Merchant’s Gargling Oil, Canal Boat, Bill of Lading, 1878

William G. Winslow was the long-time secretary and business manager of the Merchant’s Gargling Oil Company, based in Lockport, New York. Merchant’s Gargling Oil was one of the most famous “patent medicines” of the 19th century. Despite its name, it was primarily a liniment intended for external use on both animals (especially horses) and humans to treat burns, sores, and muscle pain.

Under the leadership of men like Winslow, the company became a pioneer in aggressive advertising. They produced the famous “Merchant’s Gargling Oil Songster” and distributed millions of almanacs and trade cards featuring colorful illustrations and testimonials. Since the company was based in Lockport NY along the Erie Canal, their marketing extended to canal boats and even advertising partnership with an early Niagara “Maid of the Mist”:

The history of Niagara County is full of interesting curiosities. Certainly, Niagara Falls has had its share of daredevils, but the rest of the county has not been exempted from its own set of strange and bizarre.
One such new idea found its genesis in 1833 in Lockport in a product created by Dr. George W. Merchant. He was responsible for marketing Dr. Merchant’s Gargling Oil.

Its timing along the canal was excellent. Tired and sore travelers needed frequent doses of liniment to soothe their aches and pains. Merchant sold his product alongside the canal, and demand for his product grew exponentially.

Merchant took on a partner, Morris H. Tucker, and the two built a two-story frame building at Cottage and Walnut streets in Lockport for their business. Unfortunately, Merchant’s health began to suffer and he sold his share of the business to a three-member corporation composed of Tucker, B.L. Delano and Henry Walbridge.
The corporation claimed Lockport’s own Washington Hunt, governor of New York, as a director. (Incidentally, was the only son of Niagara County ever to go on to be governor of New York.) Walbridge was actually Hunt’s father-in-law and the two were successful in their commerce.

They purchased 32,000 acres of land along the Erie Canal and proceeded to ride the canal to riches. Hunt became Niagara County’s first judge in 1836 at the tender age of 24. Not everyone in the county looked on this with approval. An excerpt from the Niagara Courier stated: “Washington Hunt is to be appointed first judge — who will pretend hereafter that a whistle cannot be made from a pig’s tail?”

Dr. Merchant’s Gargling Oil Company thrived under the marketing expertise of Tucker. He developed the marketing slogan: “Good for Man and Beast!” Over time, separate specialized products were developed for both.
In 1861, John Hodge joined the company. He advanced to president in 1886, taking over the reins from Tucker. He also had the good sense to marry Tucker’s daughter. Hodge, too, was a promotional wizard. He had a keen insight into the world of advertising.

Hodge began a program of painting billboards on anything stationary along the route of the Erie Canal. The locks at Lockport were no exception. Barns served as Hodge’s favorite canvas. He even convinced owners of the youthful Maid of the Mist Company to allow a gargling oil advertisement on the side of their boat. His grand achievement has to be a reported advertisement painted on the Rock of Gibraltar.

By the time of Hodge’s death in 1895, Dr. Merchant’s Gargling Oil was sold worldwide and was one of Lockport’s principal industries, but demand for gargling oil, just like the mules and horses along the towpath, died out and the company went out of business in 1928.

Niagara gazette, Jan 3, 2007