The Patent Medicine Fortunes (How Men Became Millionaires Selling Laudanum to Housewives)

Описание: In 1868, American druggists sold 1.5 million bottles of Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup annually. Each teaspoon contained enough morphine to kill the average infant. The American Medical Association designated it a "Baby Killer."
By then, the men who manufactured these products had already become some of the wealthiest individuals in America and Britain.
Tonight we trace six documented fortunes—from James Cook Ayer's $20 million estate to the Curtis family's morphine syrup empire—and examine how their descendants transformed blood money into cultural respectability within a single generation.
This is the history of how wealth erases its own origins.

DISCLAIMER
This video is intended for educational and historical purposes only. The content examines documented historical events, corporate practices, and societal developments through a critical lens, including discussions of pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, weapons, and institutional malfeasance.
All content is presented in a factual, documentary context to educate viewers about history and its ongoing impact on society. This channel does not promote, encourage, or glorify illegal activities, drug use, violence, or harmful behavior of any kind.
Viewer discretion is advised. This content may include discussions and historical imagery of sensitive topics including substance abuse, corporate wrongdoing, and historical violence. All information presented is sourced from historical records, academic research, and publicly available documentation.

A Note On Video Creation:
As many people have been wondering or stating that this is AI, I will therefore go through my process. The voice is a digital replica of a professional voice-over artist, and therefore there will be mispronunciations, but I will do my best to make it sound right. If it doesn't, perhaps some of you can get a good laugh. The imagery is made by an AI image generator, which I use to bring my visualizations to life. Research is done by both me and Google's search engine AI to ensure factual accuracy. This can then cause some repetition in the script because the goal is to have 1+ hours for those seeking to fall asleep but I will do my best to ensure little to no repetition is made.