Showing posts with label Dudley Leblanc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dudley Leblanc. Show all posts

Thursday, June 21, 2012

LOUISIANA ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT ITS BEST



A one and a half minute video clip of Louisiana state Senator Dudley LeBlanc of Vermillion Parish, purveyor of the patent medicine, Hadacol, on You Bet Your Life television show hosted by Groucho Marx.  Alas, according to Wikipedia, by 1951 the company collapsed under a mountain of debt.
Hadacol was a patent medicine marketed as a vitamin supplement. Its principal attraction, however, was that it contained 12 percent alcohol (listed on the tonic bottle's label as a "preservative"), which made it quite popular in the dry counties of the southern United States. 
....

The label on the tonic's bottle clearly stated that the recommended dosage (1 tablespoonful taken 4 times a day) was to be taken "...in a 1/2 glass of water after meals and before retiring". However, some pharmacies in dry counties were known to sell it by the shot-glass and at least one bar in New Orleans' French Quarter was known to sell a "Tassel Cocktail" with Hadacol as an ingredient.
Several popular songs were inspired by Hadacol, including "Hadacol Boogie", performed by Jerry Lee Lewis. 

Video and link sent to me by an old friend.