Quack, quack, quack

by William H. Helfand

"This catalog accompanies an exhibition on medical quackery, tracing its prevalence from the itinerant seller of nostrums four centuries ago to unsolicited spam on the Internet today. Prints by William Hogarth, Honore Daumier and others highlight the theatrics of the quack at work; posters by Jules Cheret, Maxfield Parrish and their contemporaries illustrate the remarkable artistry with which proprietary medicines were once advertised; and works by H.G. Wells, Weir Mitchell and other writers offer a delightful look at the elaborate language once used to promote the quack's wares." "The quack doctor's lavish pronouncements and excessive postures were matched only by similarly exalted promises of therapeutic cure. Quacks dressed elaborately, inflated their credentials, and embraced a particularly extravagant vocabulary to market their panaceas, at times claiming their pills and salves would cure all disease. Some wryly observed that the quacks' nomadic nature was necessary to enable them