Study in Eighteenth-Century Advertising Methods the Anodyne Necklace

By tracking the rise of the Anodyne Necklace with all its associated nostrums through the various forms of print by which a gullible public was to be manipulated (from the handout in the street to the constant and systematic exploitation of newspaper columns) we have a microtome slice through the century's uses of text in promotion and advertising. The size and scale of the activities involved, the amount of print generated, the interrelationships between such activities as almanac-making and the invention and promotion of nostrums, the plagiarizing of other people's texts and the playing on the public's fears are all part of the story of this time of vicious fighting for the public's attention and purse. Of great interest to the student of eighteenth-century life and letters, as well as to those interested in the development of advertising.