I am adding a couple of chapters to the book.

For that I read several books on the history of beer.

Another topic I tackled in the reading was the connection between health and beer. This meant a bit of history since many historians claim that we have records of beer dating back to the early Egyptian culture.

Also, the link between Pabst “The Best” Tonic and patent medicines cannot be avoided. Thus I needed to read something about the popular nineteenth century patent medicines.

A book I just finished today is The Great American Fraud: The Patent Medicine Evil, written in 1905.

The book tells the story of how most patent medicine companies at that time sold harmful remedies for just about any illness.

The companies had newspapers in the palm of their hands. If any newspaper story ran critical of the patent medicines, the companies threatened to end a lucrative advertising contract with the paper.

The patent medicine companies advertized more than any other industry in newspapers, both dailies and weeklies. So the papers depended on their advertising money.

It has been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog.

I just want you to know that I am writing another book, so the Pabst Tonic book has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment.

Down the line I certainly intend to publish the Pabst book. I think you would enjoy reading it.

In the nineteenth century it was common practice for a newspaper to include an article favorable to a company or business that advertised in its pages.

Pabst Brewery was no exception to receiving such an article.

A letter addressed to the brewery by a Chicago publishing firm November 15, 1887, read as follows:  “In consideration of your giving us an ad of a page in our Journal for one year, for which you are to pay $225, we will take 100 cases of the Malt Tonic and will push the sale of this article to the best of our ability.  You are also to have liberty at any time to use our editorial columns regarding the merits of your malt tonic.”