‘Quacks and Cure-alls’ contest full of fun, humor

About 20 people gathered at the Waseca County Historical Society (WCHS) the evening of Sept. 19 to take part in the Society’s special event built around their current exhibit. On display in the museum are items ranging from elaborately formed stoppered bottles to needles and stethoscopes to a ceramic serving jar designed to infuse water with radioactivity. All are part of the museum’s presentation “Snake Oil: The Dark Side of Early Minnesota Medicine,” which will continue through early November.

Also associated with the display is an Oct. 19 program named “Violet McNeal’s Medicine Show World,” which invites those in attendance to see both “a human snake alive” and a sword swallower. The WCHS fall newsletter tells that Violet McNeal operated a widely popular show in the 1920s which used spectacle and misrepresentation to market “McNeal’s Miracle Elixir,” which she claimed could “cure anything from rheumatism to a broken heart.” The Oct. 19 event will provide some entertainment imitating McNeal’s techniques.

The Sept. 19 trivia contest featured Mankato area actors Rachel and Joe Riska playing the part of “Dr. and Mrs. Forthwright.” Participants formed teams to take part in “a simple game of trivia” which asked about quack medicine marketed during the 1920s.

Questions asked participants to name the most common ingredients in some of the “elixirs” of the day, learning they were alcohol and mineral water. As the hour of questions continued, participating groups were given time to consult among their members regarding possible answers to questions like, “What was the ‘electromagnetic helmet’ advertised to cure?” (Chronic headaches) and “What toxic substance was widely regarded as having healing properties?” (Mercury).

Since neither reason nor logic tended to be helpful in determining the answers, responses tended to consist of guesses, with participants offering some highly humorous possibilities.

The “electric bath,” for example, was not advertised to end “life” or “infidelity” as some in the room suggested, but rather rheumatism–soreness in the joints and muscles.

Thus, “Dr. Forthwright’s” statement at the start of the contest may have been proven true: “Never underestimate the ability of people in groups to know less than an individual.”

The “Nosy Nurses” eventually prevailed over their competitors, the “Sassy Sisters,” “Spellcasters,” and “Hoorahs,” to take home the prize: gift certificates to be used for WCHS programs and merchandise.

Along with the Riskas as emcees, the evening’s entertainment was overseen by volunteer Dale Groskreutz and WCHS staff members Virginia McCarthy and Amy Danielson.