Quack medicines, also referred to as patent or proprietary medicines. Nostrums emerged in the modern world of commerce from the folk remedies of the past. As early as 1692, a Boston newspaper advertised a product called “Aqua anti torminales” which was sup¬ posed to cure the “Griping of the Guts and the wind Cholick” and prevent the “Dry Belly Ache.” Early in the next century, ads appeared for a product called “Tuscarora Rice” that was supposed to cure tuberculosis (then called consumption). In 1733 the New York Weekly Journal published an advertisement for “Dr. Bateman’s Pectoral Drops,” a medicine which had a patent from England’s King George.
It was from the issuance of such royal patents for medical preparations that the name “patent medicines” began to be applied to substances. After the opening of the U.S. Patent Office, a few medicinal products were patented, but it was quickly discovered that patents did not protect the most valuable part of the product. Patents expired after 17 years, and when the patent expired, anyone could make a competing product. The issue was clearly demonstrated in the case of “Pitcher’s Castoria.” Immediately after the Pitcher’s patent expired, a number of competing castoria clones appeared, and “castoria” became a generic name in medicine. Most manufacturers moved to gain trademarks over the names and slogans associated with their product and copyrights over the advertising text. Their products are more properly termed “proprietary medicines,” though the name “patent medicines” has remained much more popular.