Strange Tonic For Freaky Friday...!

So many types of snake oil medicines have been popular over the years, it would be hard to list them all.What's troubling,though, is the fact that many were considered good for you by the medical community.

Vin Mariani

Photo credit: Jules Cheret

Vin Mariani was a tonic wine, basically a French red Bordeaux with a twist: It was mixed with cocaine. It was prescribed for men who were overworked, so it was basically the original gangster of energy drinks. Invented and debuted in 1863, it continued into the 1900s as a form of nervous system stimulant, but it had a particularly high dose of cocaine.

The idea was to drink two or three glasses throughout the day to maintain a healthy nervous system. This actually sounds delicious, and it no doubt must have worked for its intended purpose. Though with the strong side effects of drug addiction and alcoholism, it can hardly be called medicine.

Thank goodness the V.A. has not issued a prescription for anything like this for me...yet!

Coffee out on the patio again.