What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“EVERY MAN HIS OWN DOCTOR.”
Like many other printers, John Dixon and William Hunter supplemented revenues from newspaper subscriptions, advertisements, and job printing by hawking patent medicines. They ran an advertisement for “Dr. KEYS[E]R’s celebrated PILLS” in the September 23, 1775, edition of their newspaper, marketing a familiar remedy for “the Veneral Disorder.” In addition to curing venereal diseases, the pills reportedly “restored Persons afflicted with dropsical Disorders, the Gravel [or kidney stones], Palsey, Apoplexy, White Swellings, Stiff Joints, and the Asthma.”
Yet, Dr. Keyser’s Pills were especially known for their efficacy in treating venereal disease, so much so that Dixon and Hunter offered a short history intended to assure prospective patients that they could depend on finding relief from their symptoms if they purchased the pills. “His Majesty ordered the most rigid and nicest Examination, by twenty seven of the principal Physicians and Surgeons,” the printers reported. They did so “not only immediately upon the Persons having been treated with the Medicine, but even for the Space of two Years afterwards, to see if the cures of all the numerous Patients were durable.” This trail demonstrated that the pills were indeed effective: “to the eternal Honour of Dr. Keyser, there was not found a single Instance of Failure.” Such an extraordinary outcome prompted the king to establish a hospital “where these Pills alone are administered.” In addition, physicians on the continent had also “pronounced the Use of [Dr. Keyser’s Pills] superior in Efficacy, to all the Modes of Practice hitherto discovered.”
Beyond their effectiveness, the pills had another important advantage. “EVERY MAN HIS OWN DOCTOR,” the headline proclaimed, echoing a similar headline, “Every One their own Physician,” that James Rivington, a printer in New York, previously used in promoting Dr. Keyser’s Pills. Prospective customers, Dixon and Hunter suggested, could purchase the pills and use them without exposing themselves to the embarrassment of consulting a physician or, even worse, having their symptoms become visible to others. “The Patient is most effectually cured,” the printers explained, “without any inconvenience to himself, or being exposed to the Shame or Confusion of his Disaster being known to the nicest Observer.” Referring to “his Disaster” was a telling alternative to “his Disorder,” one intended to stoke anxiety in hopes of convincing readers afflicted with venereal disease to purchase Dr. Keyser’s Pills. The printers conveniently acquired “a fresh Parcel lately from PARIS,” where the doctor’s widow continued making the pills.