The year is 1893 and Clark Stanley, the self-styled “Rattlesnake King,” is preparing for his big moment at the World’s Exposition in Chicago. Fairgoers have already been wowed by Otis Brothers’ elevator exhibit, George Washington Gale Ferris’ giant wheel, and Thomas Edison’s kinetoscope. According to the story:“He reached into a sack, plucked out a snake, slit it open and plunged it into boiling water. When the fat rose to the top, he skimmed it off and used it on the spot to create ‘Stanley’s Snake Oil,’ a liniment that was immediately snapped up by the throng that had gathered to watch the spectacle.”Of course, Stanley’s Snake Oil wasn’t real. It neither contained actual snake oil nor was it a salve for much of anything.

Source: Fox News December 17, 2021 16:35 UTC