A Nostrum that was first made famous by its sale in one of the largest medicine shows in the 19th-century United States. Kickapoo Oil was later immortalized in the 20th century as Kickapoo Joy Juice in the Little Abner comic strip drawn by cartoonist A1 Capp. The Kickapoo show was founded in the early 1880s by John E. Healy (better known as Colonel Healy) and Charles H. Bigelow (better known as Texas Charlie). During the show, a “tribal medicine man” would prepare the nostrum, which was originally called Sagwa. Healy and Bigelow called their headquarters in New Haven, Connecticut, the Principal Wigwam, and advertised that from there, Native Americans would scout the local woods for the ingredients with which to make Sagwa and other remedies. For more than 30 years, the company success¬ fully sent out shows to tour the land.
The success of Healy and Bigelow has been ascribed to the quality of the entertainment they offered, their honesty and reliability in running their shows, and the quality of their remedies. The remedies, of course, had none of the ingredients advertised (roots, berries and other woodland products) but were carefully made preparations using a variety of ingredients, such as molasses and Jamaican rum. Products for external use had camphor, myrrh, and other odoriferous ingredients. Each show had a professionally trained orator to promote the medicines, which were sold in the audience by Native Americans during intermissions. The showmen also left quantities with druggists, who distributed them throughout the year.