Wednesday the 14th, First Thread Is Open for Business

"Where's me goat?" is something I've never asked meself. How about you? Antikamnia is derived from the Greek and means 'opposed to pain'. Nothing wrong with that unless you're selling a quack cure. Medicine show stuff but with real dangers. The calendars promoted the company's products with memento mori:

from Flashbak dot com. There are more illustrations too.

 Death in advertising

Antikamnia Chemical Company of St Louis, Missouri, issued skeleton-themed calendars as promotional materials from 1897 to 1901. The artworks on the calendar were created by Louis Crusius, a pharmacist, doctor and anatomy professor. Antikamnia Chemical Company derived its name from the Greek for 'opposed to pain' and their product was a tincture they described as a coal-tar derivative. It was advertised as a pain killer, and also as a mood enhancer and solution for nervousness and insomnia. The compound contained acetanilide augmented by codeine and quinine for added pain reduction. In 1907, acetanilide was found to be toxic and addictive, and in 1914 the American government prosecuted the company.

~ Death: A Graveside Companion, edited by Joanna Ebenstein, Thames & Hudson, 2017, pp 294-295 (One of SQRL's favorite things)

Also some heroin, according to Wikipedia. Below image is from the wiki page.

As such stories, ad nauseam, go, Frank A. Ruf and Louis E. Frost, the founders of Antikamnia Chemical Company, did fine after they were exposed as frauds. Nobody went to jail. There's a lesson to be learned here by the US public, but we continue to love being lied to, and love the frauds and hucksters who tell them.

Buyer beware. Accept no substitutes. Only we have the one true _________!

More info here about Antikamnia Chemical with additional sources if you like to read about such things.

Where's your goat this morning? A better question: What's getting your goat?