The Toadstool Millionaires - A Social History of Patent Medicines in America Before Federal Regulation

USA: Princeton University Press, 1961. Book. Good. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. 282 pages including index. Black and white plates. Traces the development of patent medicine promotion and criticism, relating it to broader trends in health, education, journalism, marketing, and government. Illustrates, through fascinating case histories, the various stages of patent medicine development... Is concerned with the why of quackery, which leads to a paradox: the rise of scientific medicine and the apogee of unrestrained nostrum vending coincide. Medical quackery remains an important theme in American social and intellectual history because vast numbers of people continue to employ an anti-rational approach in their quest for health." - from dust jacket. "A most significant contribution, not only to medical history but to the broad field of sociology as well." - George B. Griffenhagan, Director, American Pharmaceutical Association. Moderate quantity of library markings to book. Dust jacket, now in Brodart, is unmarked with average wear and several small tears. Front hinge going. Front free endpaper affixed to front board. Illustrated back endpaper. A worthy copy..