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Herbert Elijah Bucklin made himself one of the wealthiest businessmen in both Elkhart, Indiana and Chicago, Illinois in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and he had patent medicines to thank for a lot of that. Let's talk a little about who this guy was and how he rose to being the impressive businessman he became. It wasn't all snake oil and false advertising, although that was a big part of it. Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremarky.
And I'm Holly Frye. Herbert was born in Herkimer County, New York in eighteen forty eight, and his story doesn't really start until the family moved to Elkhart, Indiana in eighteen sixty three. His father was a druggist and eventually brought his son on as a partner. Herbert showed commercial aptitude at a very early age before working in his father's store when he was still a teenager. He took advantage of days when the circus was in town, as well as any other times there were large crowds and
made a considerable amount of money how well. He would set up basically lemonade stands, but in addition to the refreshing beverage, he would also sell items including peanuts and other festival foods. His business acumen really showed though, when he convinced his father to buy a second hand soda fountain for two hundred and fifty dollars and install it in the family drug store.
Soda fountains were invented in the eighteen fifties, but then they were primarily frequented by consumers looking for fountain drinks to cure whatever ailed them, rather than sweet trees. Fountain drinks in this error were usually made of flavor extracts and effervest drugs. In fact, one of the the most popular pharmacy drinks was a headache treatment that contained cocaine and caffeine. But okay, remember in the nineteenth century, stimulants
including cocaine were totally legal ingredients. While maybe they weren't good for you, nothing hanky was happening at the soda fountains of Indiana. Druggists eventually also began to offer other menu items at their soda fountains. One of The most popular was the milkshake. The original recipe isn't the same
as what we consider a modern milkshake. It contained carbonated water, sweetened flavored milk, and a raw egg and no surprise here, ice cream sodas, which were made from flavored soda water with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, also sold very well. Herbert was onto something hot because it wasn't until the end of the nineteenth century when many drug stores finally began featuring soda fountains, and they remained popular through the
nineteen fifties. Ahead of his time and in short time, Herbert's idea was one of the most successful features of his father's business.
As an adult, Buckland's own patent medicine business was one of his great successes. The H. E. Bucklin in Company was a highly successful manufacturer and seller of a number of well known brands of patent medicines in the United States. Around the turn of the twentieth century, as his proprietary medicine business grew, Herbert moved its headquarters from Elkhart to Chicago, where the plant occupied one of the finest locations on
Michigan Avenue. The H. Buckland Building was located across two seventy five, two seventy six, and two seventy seven Michigan Avenue southwest on the corner of South Michigan Avenue in East eighth Street. Today, that's right near Columbia College and for the foodies out there, it is also near the famous Deep Dish pizza shop, lou Melnotti's. The building was special. It was designed by Oscar Cobb, a prominent theater architect
from Shechego. Several of his works are listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places, although the Buckland Building is not one of them. H. E. Bucklin Almanax between nineteen oh nine through nineteen thirteen, kept at the library at the University of Florida, suggests that the business was located in Chicago at least until nineteen fourteen, and
at that point it's listing changes to Saint Louis. But before we get too deep into all of that, Herbert wasn't always and only a patent medicine manufacturer and retailer. He made himself a millionaire before he ever got into that business.
That's right, while in Elkhart, similar to the soda fountain success in his dad's pharmacy. One of his important early deals as an adult was securing a concession for the exclusive sale of soda water on the exposition grounds from the managers of the Philadelphia Centennial. In eighteen seventy six, a large event held a comemory rate the one hundredth
anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. You know when you go to an outdoor event and there's just one brand of bottled water for sale, and it's sold at an outrageous price. His deal was like that. Also before his move to Chicago, he was influential in politics in Elkhart County and was also a farmer and raised livestock there. Through his investments in agricultural land and then also Chicago real estate, and frankly, eventually his property
interests extended over half a dozen or more states. All of this real estate led to making him a millionaire and depending on the records that you look at, perhaps a multimillionaire.
And then Buckland got involved in the railroad. He backed the Elkhart and Western Railroad, which ran from Elkhart to Mishawaka, Indiana, a short line of about ten miles. Construction of the E ANDW as it was known, began in eighteen nine and it was completed in eighteen ninety three. And then Bucklin invested more than one million, five hundred thousand dollars in a rail from Elkhart to the Ohio border, more than one hundred miles. He was also a stockholder in
the New York Central Lines. That is a big deal because the New York Central Railroad connected the Greater New York area and Boston on the East coast with Chicago and Saint Louis in the Midwest. He you could say, was diversified in his businesses for sure, and those railroads could help him deliver what Buckland's patent medicine company had to offer.
We are going to take a break for a word from our sponsors. When we're back, we'll talk about Herbert's first patent medicine, one he bought from a real doctor and then made famous.
Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's stop talking about railroads and start talking about Herbert's company and its patent medicine offerings, including his most famous one that one hundred percent did not cure tuberculosis as it claimed.
Herbert entered the patent medicine business when doctor Z. L. King, who had a medical practice in Elkhart, sold him the rights to some of his medicines in eighteen seventy eight, when King decided to move to Middlebury, Indiana. Less than a year after that acquisition, Buckland relocated from Elkhart to Chicago and began his journey into proprietary medicines. Elkhart had
made him successful, but it was a small town. According to the eighteen ninety census, which is about a decade after he left, Elkhart had a population of only roughly seventy six hundred people.
Once established in Chicago, he rebranded one of King's medicines as doctor King's New Discovery for consumption cough and colds, and by eighteen eighty five, so about five or six years later, New Discovery, as it was popularly known, had national recognition that was very fast. It was made for both adults and children. Instructions were to take one teaspoon one to four times a day, and for infants the
dosage was ten drops to half a teaspoonful. While we know this disease as tuberculosis, at that time it was called consumption. Just to clear up any confusion, This was a hot time for patent medicine companies, and they were all fighting for the number one position. Specifically, they each wanted to be the one to make the most money off of a cure for tuberculosis, which was ravaging the country after the American Civil War. Consumers were willing to
try just about anything, and physicians weren't much help. Bottles of New Discovery were marketing as the cure for tuberculosis, and the tagline on its product label read quote the true remedy at last discovered.
But New Discovery, like all other snake oil cures for tuberculosis, was not only not going to help you recover, it might have actually been harmful to your health. It contained chloroform, which was intended to cure your cough, but was also used as a solvent as well as a general anesthetic. It also contained morphine to add a touch of euphoria to the mix, as it's a powerful narcotic, as well
as alcohol, which was intended to dull the pain. It wouldn't have treated your tuberculosis, but maybe you might not have cared so much about your symptoms.
There were some patent medicines that did deliver what they promised, although that was kind of a rare situation. Many did not, and in addition, many came with a dangerous list of ingrid which often included things like opium, cocaine, and the ever popular additive alcohol, all in combination. Some contained herbs or other fairly benign substances, but these were typically not the active ingredients, and they were usually just there as
flavoring or coloring. Products that couldn't cure anything, claimed to treat things like sexually transmitted infections, cancer, and of course, as we've been talking about tuberculosis, many and we mean many of them claimed that they could quote cure all diseases.
By the turn of the twentieth century, Herbert began self applying the title doctor Snake. Oil salesmen weren't known to tell the truth, so really, why not. Buckley's sizable advertising budget and smart business decisions were what helped give his new discovery product national attention. His advertising team was a well oiled machine, and its prowess applied to other products
manufactured by his company. Patent medicine makers tried all sorts of advertising and marketing techniques to get consumers to buy their products. Some worked, some didn't, but modern historians note that some of today's campaign techniques were pioneered during this era.
Buckland's company spent large sums of money on advertising campaigns across all types of media, but there was one thing that made them stand out. The company was fond of providing free samples or offering trial sizes to unsure potential customers.
By nineteen oh five, New Discovery was also being produced in a well it's what we would consider a TSA approved sized bottle, claiming on its packaging quote, by taking the contents of this small bottle, you will readily perceive the remarkable curative qualities of this great new Discovery for consumption coughs, colds, and all diseases of the throat, chest, and lungs, which will convince you of its wonderful merits and show you what can be done by a regular
one dollar size bottle. Give it a trial.
As Buckland's patent medicines became firmly established in the marketplace and the company as a major player in the retail space, New Discovery was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in eighteen ninety three. This kind of retail accomplishment was achieved by the company's successful advertising and marketing, of course, but the cherry on top was the fifty cent thirty
one page book published specifically for the event. It was half filled with color lithographs of the world's fair buildings and the other half descriptive text about Buckland's proprietary medicines. Their advertising book became a souvenir. The book claimed New Discovery was one of the marvels of the nineteenth century, and they included it along with other marvels at the fair, such as the original ferris wheel, the first moving walkway, and Peanut Butter and Juicy Fruit.
New Discovery was a huge fraud, but it was also a huge hit, and Buckland had other big patent medicine successes. According to an advertorial in the ann Arbor Argus in November of eighteen ninety five, quote the following four remedies reached phenomenal sale. Doctor King's New Discovery for consumption coughs and colds, each bottle guaranteed electric bitters, the great remedy for liver, stomach and kidneys, Buckland's Arnica Salve the best in the world. And Doctor King's New Life Pills, which
are perfect pills. All these remedies are guaranteed to do just what is claimed for them, and the dealer whose name is attached here with will be glad to tell you more of them.
Well, we'd like to know more about what makes the New Life pills perfect, but we're going to take a break for a word from our sponsors, and when we're back, we'll tell you more about Buckland products and claims, and we'll take a look at some of the interesting ingredient lists.
Welcome back to Criminalia. Let's talk more about Buckland's company's product line because it was more varied than just New Discovery. But we also have a spoiler alert. You are gonna want to stick around for the end of this episode because the last bit surprised even US.
Promotional literature for these products included testimonials, which was a common marketing ploy for patent medicines, as well as general health and household advice. In addition to claims about how the products were cures for a variety of complaints, their marketing materials touted the company's other miraculous drugs as well.
For instance, one advertisement claimed New Discovery cured tuberculosis, and it also included arnica salve in the same advertisement, claiming it could cure quote boils, bruises, inflammation, and sores that seemed incurable.
Electric Bitters was another popular product, as New Discovery was the top sellar Electric Bitters was a close second. It was primarily sold as a laxative nicknamed the Great Family Remedy, but its uses, as listed on the packaging, included quote all diseases of the stomach, liver and kidneys, biliousness, general debility, fever, jaundice, blood disorders, and diseases of the urinary organs, neuralgia, nervousness,
and mental depression. As an appetizer, they are unequaled dose for an adult, take from one to three tablespoonsful three times a day, before or after meals, according to age and constitution of the patient. Weak and delicate constitutions should commence with one tablespoonful, reduced with sweetened water, and increase as the case demands. This quickly became one of the more popular patent medicines that Bucklan's company sold. It costs sixty cents in nineteen hundred and it came in a
large bottle, and it was the Quote Family laxative. It contained quote senna, rhubarb, cascara segrada, hops, aloes, wahoo, dandelion, gentian uva, ursie, pansy, cameomelian quasia combined with aromatics, and one tablespoon contained eighteen percent alcohol. Unpacking, this list of ingredients isn't as eye popping as they often can be for patent medicines, and that's because some of these ingredients
were actually laxatives. Senna is known to relieve constipation, so that's pretty good start, as is cascara segrata and aloe too. But while you may have had some results, the bidders would have had more potential as an aromatic liquor.
Then there was Buckland's New Life Pills product introduced in eighteen eighty, which the company claimed to be a cure for quote temporary constipation and biliousness, and it contained quote cascara, put a fillin, aloin, strychnine sulfate, and capsicum makers. Allegedly it was supposed to cure stomach ailments. But that highly toxic strychnine that's just a yikes. Let's look at a few of the other active ingredients other than the strychnine put a fill in today is used to treat genital words.
Aloin is derived from alo and may or may not help relieve constipation. Cascara here is what saves this product. It's a dried bark which is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but is sometimes sold as an over the counter laxative, modern snake oil or constipation remedy. You can be the judge.
Buckland's company's product line wasn't all successful, though, and some of the products were actually flops, including ones called Doctor King's California Golden Compound, Doctor King's Hop Cordial, and Doctor Sheeler's Great German Cure for Consumption.
On top of those flops, there were the critics. New Discovery was heavily marketed and featured in many advertisements. It drew in customers with all that exposure, but it also caught the attention of a man named Samuel Hopkins Adams, who was well known as the author behind a series called The Great American Fraud, which was published in Collier's Weekly.
His articles disclosed the fraudulent, duplicitous patent medicine industry to the public who were buying the potentially harmful products unaware those products could be potentially harmful.
During the peak popularity of patent medicine, reporters and other investigators began to publicize how problematic these sorts of proprietary products could be, writing about instances of death, drug addiction, and other hazards from the products that at the time did not have to disclose their ingredients. New Discovery specifically
fell under intense scrutiny and criticism. In an expos by Adams published in the January thirteenth, nineteen oh six issue of Collier's Weekly, Adams wrote, quote, it is proclaimed to be the only sure cure for consumption. Further announcement is made that it strikes terror to the doctors, as it is a morphine and chloroform mixture. Doctor King's new discovery for consumption is well calculated to strike terror to the doctors or to any other class or profession, except perhaps
the undertakers. Adams, as you can see, did not pull punches.
He continued, quote, it is a pretty diabolical concoction to give to anyone, and particularly to a consumptive. The chloroform temporarily allays the cough, thereby checking nature's effort to throw off the dead matter from the lungs. The opium drugs the patient into a deceived cheerfulness. The combination is admirably designed to shorten the life of any consumptive who takes it steadily, but the label didn't provide any sort of
warning of possible side effects to consumers. To his point, nothing about the label or the advertising disclosed that this was a mixture of ingredients that could kill you.
Harmful products are not. The market at this time was thick with snake oil, and Bucklem found himself with counterfeitters who were making and selling imitations specifically of his company's new discovery product, although sometimes knockoffs of his other concoctions did pop up as well. While he was defrauding the public, he was outraged that someone else was trying to do the same thing, and on his back, Bucklan's company released a statement to his consumers that will quote a little
bit of it. Read quote. This is to warn you to beware of such people who seek to profit through stealing the reputation of remedies which have been successfully curing disease for over thirty five years. A sure protection to you is our name on the wrapper look for it on all doctor King's or Buckland's remedies, as all others are mere imitations. H Bucklin in Company Chicago, Illinois, and Windsor Canada all druggists.
But it turns out, despite his impressive business acumen, it was Herbert alone who tripped over himself when boasting of his quote wondrous arnica sab Buckland inadvertently outed the sav's dubious properties asked, and we presume by a reporter or or maybe perhaps by a consumers, It's a bit unclear. When asked if he had any of the popular salf to show, he I'm gonna pause here because we all want to cringe together on this one. He replied, quote,
take some axle grease off your wagon wheel. It's the same thing. And that might have been his first instance of truth in advertising.
Oh yuck, would you like a little cuous? What ails you to finish this one? Along?
What? As long as it doesn't any chloroform in it?
Zero chloroform? This one might be a little bit weird, but come with me on the journey.
We'll take along with you.
Because what I really was struck by in this story in terms of like thinking about a drink was not any of the patent medicines. It was the milkshake talk, specifically the disc of how early versions of milkshakes before they were really what we would call a milkshake today, had egg in them. And that made me think about eggy drinks like egg creams, which are related an eggnog.
And then I started thinking about how eggnog is a winter treat, but equally rich things like ice cream treats are considered summer treats, and I was like, that seems odd. What if we could come up with a variation on eggnog that is summery. So some of the things that go into eggnog that make it wintery are like the spices and whatnot, but we can change that up, and we can also choose some lighter ingredients so that it's
not as heavy a drink. This one is definitely a dessert drink, though I would say even though it is not as heavy as a nog because it is sweet. I didn't put peanut butter in it, although I was excited we talked about it because I do love peanut butter, but that's not in this. Normally, if you make eggnog. You use your milk and your cream together and you sometimes warm that. This involves no cooking. It's easy to put together. I put all of mine in one of
those little personal blenders. Oh yeah, yeah, which I highly recommend is the easiest way to do it. But if you have a frother, you could there's a fruit component you're just gonna want to cut up really well if you go that root. So we are calling this Bucklan's nog, even though it's not really a nog and it's not
really by Buckland, but that's okay. It's delicious. It starts with a half cup of coconut milk, and to that you're gonna add not an egg yolk like you would if you were making an eggnog, but instead two tablespoons of egg white, which shows up in a lot of cocktails, so that's not too weird. You're also gonna add, this is where it gets sweet, two tablespoons of simple or vanilla simple syrup if you want to get like that
vanilla ice creamy taste, make sure you have vanilla. If you don't, simple syrup works great, and then a half cup of watermelon chunks. You're also going to toss in just a drop or two of vanilla extract, not very much at all, and then an ounce and a half
of the whiskey of your choice. This is one of those great recipes where if you have, like a whiskey or a bourbon that maybe you purchased thinking you would like it and it just doesn't quite work well in the whiskey forward recipes you've maybe been trying, this is a good way to use it. You're still going to get its flavor, but all of these other things balance it out so that if it's not a flavor you love, it won't be as much of a concern and you
will probably like it more. You can also there's an optional ingredient here if you want a slightly thicker, richer thing add just like a splash of cream. You don't have to do that. It's up to you. That is drinker's choice. And then you are just going to blend this or if you use your frother, give it a
really good go. Like I said, if you use the frother, you might want to make sure you ash your watermelon quite a bit so it doesn't get caught up in the little functional frothy bit that's like a coil on the end, and then you're just gonna pour it over ice. It's stupidly delicious. It's like all the flavor of a melted ice cream bar without feeling like you just ate a block of cheese, which is what I often feel like with heavier drinks than the summit it right.
Summary, watermelon summary. And you know what, this reminds me of that story of him when he was a teenager, fourteen fifteen years old and he would set up all his lemonade stands.
Yes, all of that was the interesting stuff to me.
All of his pre patent medicine proberts.
Yes, that's where the deliciousness lives. So that is Buckland's nog. If you want to make a mocktail version of this, you have options. You can just make it as is without the whiskey. If you want to keep the same volume, just add a little more coconut milk. You can also, though, add an ounce and a half of black tea if you want to, instead of that. That'll keep the flavor a little closer to the alcoholic version. But both are good.
Here's the other thing about this. If you try this and like this, this is like a good template recipe because one I went with coconut milk and I used a splash of dairy cream. But if you don't use dairy, you can use whatever creamer you want. You can use any other kind of milk that you want. You can use dairy milk if you want. You can also change up your syrup flavors if you want to add like a Kiwi syrup or a lavender syrup or any kind of thing. You can even make a spicy one, use
different fruit. It's all like an easy way to make yourself kind of a yummy summertime milkshake that's not as heavy as a milkshake. I love a milkshake, but often when I eat them in the heat of Georgia, I feel le black afterwards because I'm.
Just like, oh, feel very full after them.
Now, I just feel very heavy and a puffy and I want to lie down. This is a little lighter So that is Bucklan's nog Buckland's summer nog. Maybe we should call it. Maybe We hope if you make it that you have fun, and I hope if you make it and you like it, that you do experiment with some other ingredients. Subouts because I feel like this guy's the limit. Once you have your system down, you can
just start playing with stuff. We are very delighted and thankful that you come and play with us and listen to our stories. We will be right here next week, once again with a tale of snake oil and a drink to go with it. Criminalia is a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from Shondaland Audio, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.