TIL Snake Oil was a real product sold by the Clark Stanley company, and in 1917 the U.S. Govt. had a bottle of it tested, but discovered that it contained inert ingredients and no actual oils extracted from snakes. The government sued and won damages of $20.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil



Submitted February 10, 2015 at 07:06PM by WildAnimus http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/2veye4/til_snake_oil_was_a_real_product_sold_by_the/