Charmed, I’m sure: How snake oil greased the national imagination

But snake oil didn’t always mean scam — it used to be a legitimate product.

How did the term evolve? How much money did these self-proclaimed scientists slide out of people’s wallets?

Let’s take a look at both the past and present of this healing phenomenon.

Where did the term “snake oil” come from?

The history

When Chinese immigrants came to the U.S. in the 1880s to construct the cross-country railroads, they brought snake oil, an ancient remedy, with them.

It was made from the oil of Chinese water snakes and rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

By all accounts, it did wonders when rubbed on aching muscles after a long day’s work.

At the same time that thousands of Chinese people were arriving to work in the U.S., there was a rise in popularity of patent medicines — trademarked home remedies made with ingredients that weren’t necessarily disclosed in full.

The American spin

“American-made” snake oil — made with rattlesnakes — became an alternative to the thousands-of-years-old formula.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, as industrialization and urbanization were speeding up, so were the rates of infectious diseases.

Most people were distrustful of “legitimate medicine”, which, according to the Smithsonian, often used extreme techniques like blood-letting.

Americans who felt a cold coming on often felt more comfortable turning to patent medicines — like Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup — rather than calling a doctor.

The first American “oily guy” on record.

The Smithsonian reports that Clark Stanley was born in Texas around 1854.

He was a cowboy for years before he transitioned to “medicine”.

His snake oil liniment first gained major attention at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.

According to the bottle label, it was supposed to help with “muscular rheumatism, lame back, bruises and insect bites,” among other things.

But his heyday happened before the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, which attempted to ban the sale of “adulterated” foods.

Tests on Stanley’s liniment in 1916 revealed his concoction contained mineral oil, beef fat, capsaicin from chili peppers and turpentine.

He was fined the equivalent of $555 in today’s money, and soon the term “snake oil salesman” came to mean a purveyor of fake products marketed as medicine.

Modern day equivalents of “snake oil”

While snake oil itself may have evaporated into the past, the expression didn’t.

It’s important to note that some “snake oil remedies” do have roots in ancient cultures from around the world, and many people respect them for adding a certain “unquantifiable” health benefit to their daily routines.

The key word is “unquantifiable”.

Here is a list, by no-means exhaustive, of 21st century products that have been presented as a “health cure”.

They aren’t backed by science, but each has been incredibly financially successful.

Juicing

In the U.S., the popularity of juice cleanses can be traced back to the 1930s, when Dr. Max B. Gerson developed a protocol to cure himself of persistent migraines.

Beyond other things, the therapy called for 15-20 pounds of organic produce per day, often only possible through juicing.

While juicing can help your body absorb nutrients, the Mayo Clinic points out that most juicers remove healthy fiber.

The American Cancer Society cautions against treating cancer with Gerson therapy; it can cause nutrient deficiencies.

According to Fortune Business Insights, the market for cold-pressed juice was $1.15B in 2022, and is expected to grow to $1.86B by 2030.

Crystal healing

According to the independent news network The Conversation, astronomer Carl Sagan theorized that, although it’d been a part of different traditions for centuries, the resurgence of crystal healing in the 1980s was ignited by the Crystal Healing series of books published by Katrina Raphaell during that decade.

The pandemic also inspired a revived interest in crystals.