Doc Tom Scott's Last Real Medicine Show

"Step right up and get your bottle of herbs roots, barks, and berries gathered from all parts of the globe and blended into one mild yet effective tonic laxative. It's good for the entire family - the old folks, dads, and all, and it's sold with a money back guarantee." Tom Scott's clear Southern voice rang out in the pitch of the old time medicine show barkers. Wearing a bright striped shirt with garters on the sleeves, a vest, a bow tie, and a tall top hat, he had been working the medicine show since 1936, when he joined Doc Chamberlain's medicine show as a teenager. He began by picking and singing to bring in and entertain customers. When Chamberlain got ready to retire, he gave Tom his secret formulas for the medicine and asked him to carry on the tradition, which Tom had already been doing for 51 years when I met him. I had traveled to Taccoa, Georgia, to interview him for Good Old Days magazine in 1989. At that time, he had the last remaining traveling medicine show.

Chamberlain actually gave him formulas for two medicines, Herb-O-Lac, an herbal laxative, and Snake Oil, a liniment. Both were first mixed by Chamberlain in the 1800's with the help of a Cherokee Indian, and both were made from natural ingredients. Tom vouched for his products, and I got the sense that he felt a need to defend it from the bad reputation historically stemming from unscrupulous shysters who tried to deceive. Of course the Pure Food Drug Act of 1906 changed all that. Many medicine shows folded when the owners could no longer mix their own medicines, and the Depression did away with others. Tom's medicine was made and bottled by a company in accordance with federal regulations after 1906. When I interviewed him, most people attended Doc's Scott's medicine shows because of their historical value and folk culture rather than to buy a bottle of elixir. Tom still made music, sang, and entertained, too.

Doc Scott died at the age of 96 in September 2013 from injuries he sustained in an automobile wreck. If his appearance was any indication, he was good advertisement for his medicine. I feel privileged to have met him. I loved his enthusiasm for life and his allegiance to the Last Real Medicine Show. 

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