Guy Reams (00:01.23)
This is day 258, the snake oil salesman.
Since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, humankind has been trying to figure out how to make more margin on goods and services by using cheap labor. If you look closely, this issue sits at the root of many of our political and international conflicts. So it should come as no surprise that when the large railroads were building the transcontinental railroad in the 1800s, they were looking everywhere for low cost labor.
One of the most significant sources of lower cost labor at the time was China. Seems like little has changed in the last century. The difference however, was that in this instance, laborers from mainland China were being brought into the US to work on the railroads. I'm not a historian, but if I were, I think I'd find it fascinating to study the stories of this class of immigrants and the impact they had on the societies they integrated with or were segregated from.
Among the many cultural contributions these workers brought, one in particular stands out, that of snake oil. These workers introduced traditional Chinese remedies and medicines, including snake oil made from the Chinese water snake, a species that was rich in omega-3 fatty acids and used to treat joint pain, inflammation, and arthritis. Today we use snake oil as a negative term to describe a fraudulent product
But that's a misrepresentation. Modern scientific analysis has shown that real Chinese snake oil likely does help with inflammation due to the Omega-3 content. So how does it come to represent the exact opposite? The origin of the negative stereotype traces back to a fraud perpetrated by Clark Stanley, who self-titled himself the Rattlesnake King. In 1916, it was proven that his famously advertised
Guy Reams (02:03.599)
advertised snake oil liniment was a total sham. Contrary to his marketing, it actually contained no snake oil and had nothing to do with the secret remedies from the Hopi tribe. The ingredients? Mineral oil, chili peppers, and turpentine. He was fined under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. He was fined $20. Stanley wasn't the first to do this.
He was simply capitalizing what had already become a fixture in late 1800s American culture. The original Chinese snake oil had become known in the US, probably because it actually worked. But enterprising American salesmen lacking access to the genuine article saw a business opportunity. They concocted phony versions and hit the road, selling miracle cures at medicine shows, complete.
complete with flashy presentations, staged testimonials, and smooth talking doctors. Their goal was simple, sell as much as possible before anyone figured out the truth. And so the term snake oil salesman entered our language as a metaphor for scam artists, smooth talking hucksters, and anyone selling something that sounds amazing, but doesn't actually work. Today it's commonly used in industries like tech,
personal fitness and self-help to describe those peddling hype over substance. So why do I bring this up? Because someone recently accused me of being a snake oil salesman. Let's set the record straight. What they meant, I think, is that I sounded like a salesperson. To that I say guilty as charged. But sounding like a salesperson and being Clark Stanley are two entirely different things.
In my case, I'm selling the real thing, the Chinese version of snake oil, which actually works, not the red pepper interpentine knockoff. So I beg you, if you're going to insult hardworking salespeople, please get your metaphors right. Not all American salespeople are hucksters trying to pass off fake products supposedly made in China while overstating their claims. Well, at least one or two of us are.