 |
The quack drug
maker did not patent the formulas of his medications nor did the ingredients
for their drugs appear on the labels. Instead they patented the distinctive
bottle shapes and images on labels. This was a clever marketing ploy by the
successful quack who was really an expert salesman. After the break from the
mother country American medical quacks, relying on the patriotic fervor in
the new nation, hastened to create and market their own patent medicines,
beginning in 1796 when Samuel Lee, Jr. of Windham, CT. patent his “Bilious
Pills”. During the 19th century literally thousands of patent
medicine were created and marketed, some only locally and other regionally
and a few even nationally. |
