Protection vs Victimization of the Vulnerable After 40 years of reading and researching 19th century advertising and literature to understand popular perceptions about the quality of life, I can tell you that society’s focus, then as now, was on physical health. Despite the unsettling “before” stories of the hucksters, people usually recovered from most sicknesses: fevered brows cooled down, guts stopped puking, and wounds healed. The sincere and insincere often praised the product or...

My personal celebration of our country's 250th year of independence, told through the oldest trade card in my collection. Author's Note: Yes, I told this story eight months ago, but it was different then. "Living the Dream" told the story of the card's owner, John E. Tyler. I was then asked by an important publication to rewrite and condense the article with focus on the trade card itself. The revised article became the page-one story in the next edition of that publication, but the editors...

In a world of secrets, revealing a cure was revolutionary - and dangerous. Reflecting on the brave but shaky start to our great nation on the 250th anniversary of its creation, we hold this truth to be self-evident: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness have come at a dear price. While all three virtues were passionately pursued by the new government, they were also being sought by its citizens as the unalienable rights of personal health: everyone wanted freedom from sickness and...