Special Collections Exhibition: "From Quackery to Quality: 100 Years of Medical Manufacturing in Chattanooga, 1865-1965"

Black-and-white photograph of Chattanooga Medicine Company wagon. The wagon has advertising that reads "Are You a Woman? Take CARDUI The Woman's Tonic CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE COMPANY. 2005 LOCUST ST." Behind the wagon is a printed sign that reads "BRANCH OFFICE & WAREHOUSE CHATTANOOGA MEDICINE CO. MAIN OFFICE AND FACTORY CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — Chattanooga Medicine Company, which started in 1879, still operates today as Chattem Chemicals, Inc. Chattanooga Medicine Company wagon, circa 1910s, Chattanooga History Collections, CHC-1982-013-002-d. Courtesy of the Chattanooga Public Library and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.

Since Reconstruction, medical manufacturing has been a mainstay of Chattanooga industry. Special Collections’ new exhibition, “From Quackery to Quality: 100 Years of Medical Manufacturing in Chattanooga, 1865-1965”, explores this history in light of national trends in advertising, federal drug regulation, and scientific advances, as well as its regional context and connection to the university.

Now on display in the Library’s Roth Grand Reading Room (LIB 402) through July 2025, the installation features images, items, and narrative text outlining key products, businesses, and individuals involved.

Black-and-white photograph of the exterior of Patten Chapel. — The namesake of Patten Memorial Chapel, John A. Patten was an executive at Chattanooga Medicine Company in the early 20th century and a long-serving university trustee. Patten Chapel exterior ground-level view, circa 1960s, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus photographs, UA-00-03-01-13-011. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.

The images and information for the exhibition were drawn from a wide range of holdings including Chattanooga History Collections, University Archives, and Manuscripts Collections. Visit the Special Collections website to learn more about how you can access these and other cultural heritage materials.

Black-and-white photograph of Irvine W. Grote (center) and unidentified individuals. — University professor and alumnus Irvine W. Grote developed compounds that were essential ingredients in Chattanooga Medicine Company products. Irvine W. Grote and others group portrait, circa 1956-1965, *University of Tennessee at Chattanooga portrait photographs*, UA-00-03-02-07-012. Courtesy of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Special Collections.

Secondary sources consulted and recommendations for further reading:

Anderson, Ann. Snake Oil, Hustlers and Hambones: The American Medicine Show. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2000.

Bingham, A. Walker. The Snake-Oil Syndrome: Patent Medicine Advertising. Hanover, Mass.: Christopher Pub. House, 1994.

Carson, Gerald. One for a Man, Two for a Horse; a Pictorial History, Grave and Comic, of Patent Medicines. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1961.

Cook, David. “Medicinal Vessels of the First Gilded Age (1870-1929): Properties of Promise or Hokum of False Hope?” Georgia State University Anthropology Theses, December 17, 2014. https://doi.org/10.57709/6430686.

Flannery, Michael A. “Good for Man or Beast: American Patent Medicines from 1865 to 1938.” Alabama Heritage, 2001.

Govan, Gilbert E and James W. Livingood. The University of Chattanooga: Sixty Years. Chattanooga: University of Chattanooga, 1947.

Horrocks, Thomas. Popular Print and Popular Medicine : Almanacs and Health Advice in Early America. University of Massachusetts Press, 2008.

Irwin, Ned L. “Chattanooga Medicine Company.” In Tennessee Encyclopedia. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/chattanooga-medicine-company/.

———. “Lupton, John Thomas.” In Tennessee Encyclopedia. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/john-thomas-lupton/.

———. “Patten, Zeboim Cartter.” In Tennessee Encyclopedia. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/zeboim-cartter-patten/.

Longwith, John. Light upon a Hill: The University at Chattanooga, 1886-1996. Chattanooga: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 2000.

Maines, Denise. “Why the Appeal? A Study of Almanacs Advertising Dr. Chase’s Patent Medicines, 1904–1959.” Canadian Pharmacists Journal / Revue Des Pharmaciens Du Canada 145, no. 4 (July 2012): 180–85. https://doi.org/10.3821/145.4.cpj180.

Osterdahl, Andy. “The Strangest Names In American Political History : Zeboim Lupton Patten (1907-1958), Zeboim Cartter Patten Jr. (1906-1982).” The Strangest Names In American Political History (blog), November 25, 2020. https://politicalstrangenames.blogspot.com/2020/11/zeboim-lupton-patten-1907-1958-zeboim.html.

Pendergrast, Mark. For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Unauthorized History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. New York: Scribner’s, 1993.

Stage, Sarah. Female Complaints: Lydia Pinkham and the Business of Women’s Medicine. New York: Norton, 1979.

Wilson, John. The Patten Chronicle. Roy McDonald, 1986..

Young, James Harvey. American Health Quackery: Collected Essays. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1992.