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Fear Sells: Barker, Moore, and Mein
In "Let's Get the Lead Out or Why Paints and Drugs Do Mix,"* an article written for the Library Company of Philadelphia, Doctor Gus Spector states the firm of Barker, Moore, and Mein or B.M. & M. were masters at marketing. This advertisement, taken from an unknown 1880 newspaper, substantiates Spector's premise.
According to Spector, Robert Barker, John Moore, and Benjamin V. Mein, originally set up shop in a run down building on 621 Market Street in Philadelphia. From this building the company sold both paint and pharmaceuticals. Through the use of aggressive advertising campaigns, B.M. & M. grew profitable and were able to move into the imposing structure represented in this advertisement.*
Spector clarifies that the Food and Drug Act was not established until 1906, in which case, it is anyone's guess as to what ingredients were in Barker's Liver Pills. Although, the advertisement does note the pills do not contain mercury...whew! Every possibility exists that it might not have been the human condition or Father Time that should be feared, but the ingredients found in the medicines.
Their pharmaceuticals were not restricted to those consumed by humans alone. In the Journal of the American Medical Association dated 1905 one finds that Barker, Moore, & Mein also sold horse, cattle, and poultry powder as well as bone liniment.
B. M. & M.'s sales techniques are demonstrative of the sales pitches used today. The very tenets held in the marketing industry today echo those of yesteryear, and it all boils down to one well-known fact--FEAR sells. The graphic Father Time imagery coupled with the scary death statistics serve their purpose as well as any modern pitchman shouting about the evils of laundry stains or cartoons which evoke images of depression.
Although the mechanisms to spread fear move at lightning speed in the modern world, not much has really changed in the past 135 years. Pat Earnest, Delaware, November 6, 2015
*I highly recommend Spector's article, which shows more advertising from the firm of B.M. & M. Link Here: Let's Get the Lead Out, or Why Paints and Drugs Do Mix"
**This advertisement was clipped from an unknown newspaper and pasted into a scrapbook. The dark areas are from the paste used to put it into the scrapbook. Paste=bad. The fuzziness comes from the scanner not being able to read from the area along the spine.
Pat Earnest is a history enthusiast, who has great regard for the past and is especially proud of the Pennsylvania German culture. In addition to Passed Time, I am currently working on a project for the German Historical Institutes Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies (http://www.ghi-dc.org). I also contribute to various newsletters and am working on another book...or two. Feel free to email me at pcsuter@hotmail.com with questions, comments, information, a shared love of history, an idea, because you want to chat or you have an great idea for PT. Please be aware, Files With Attachments will not be opened, but immediately deleted.
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