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Quack Cures to Medicine Shows


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The Hard Sell - Advertising
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The Hard Sell


"You are all dying, every man, every woman and child is dying; from the instant you are born you begin to die and the calendar is your executioner. That, no man can change or hope to change. It is nature's law that there is no escape from the individual great finale on the mighty stage of life where each of you are destined to play your farewell performance. Ponder well my words then ask yourselves the questions: Is there a logical course to pursue? Is there some way you can delay, perhaps for years, that final moment before your name is written down by a bony hand in the cold diary of death? Of course there is Ladies and Gentlemen, and that is why I am here"
Opening pitch of T.P. Kelly, pitchman extraordinaire

A absolutely essential part of patent medicine sale is advertising - both verbal promotion and distributed material. This page - and the attached pages provide a sample of such advertising - both on trading cards and in newspapers. Note that there are two pages of trading cards and newspaper advertisements.
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Site by: Kendra Marie Young. [youngk@grinnell.edu]. All photos courtesy of the National Library of Medicine