# What is "Doctor Good?" (Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves.) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058 "2008-04-05T08:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/1 "2008-04-05T08:12:26Z")
Pretty self explanatory. In the Cher song, Daddy would “sell a couple bottles of Doctor Good.” What is Doctor Good? Was that some brand of medicine or alcohol that was popular back then? Is it a slang term for bootlegged alcohol or some kind of drug? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/2 "2008-04-05T09:01:55Z")
I’ve always thought it was [Mountebank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan) charlatan-type medicine. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/3 "2008-04-05T13:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I’ve always thought it was [Mountebank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan) charlatan-type medicine. [/QUOTE] I’d always asumed it was a shortened form of “Doctor Feelgood” - Snake-oil, quack-juice, nostrum or [patent medicine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Williams'_Pink_Pills_for_Pale_People) No evidence, just an asumption ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/4 "2008-04-05T14:58:28Z")
Same here. He ran a [medicine show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_show), peddling quack nostrums. These often had a high alcohol content and were a way to sell liquor in “dry” areas that didn’t allow legal alcohol sales. These buyers were usually in on the gag, but most sincerely believed in the possible efficacy of the “cure.” Notice how many different slang terms we’ve already used. That’s an indication of how ubiquitous these shows and medicines used to be. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/5 "2008-04-05T15:52:18Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Same here. He ran a [medicine show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_show), peddling quack nostrums. These often had a high alcohol content and were a way to sell liquor in “dry” areas that didn’t allow legal alcohol sales. These buyers were usually in on the gag, but most sincerely believed in the possible efficacy of the “cure.” Notice how many different slang terms we’ve already used. That’s an indication of how ubiquitous these shows and medicines used to be. [/QUOTE] Until I clicked on your link, I thought “snake oil” was a pejorative for all the phony nostrums sold by medical charlatans. But people really bought crap so named. Blows my mind. 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/6 "2008-04-05T15:53:55Z")
There was an 80s music video that had a pretty amusing rendition of a mountebank: [say say](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9jGSdGVNFI) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/7 "2008-04-05T15:54:54Z")
How is snake oil any different from the herbal crap sold all over the internet today? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/8 "2008-04-05T15:55:48Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] How is snake oil any different from the herbal crap sold all over the internet today? [/QUOTE] No one’s claiming it is any different, especially around here. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/9 "2008-04-05T17:39:44Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] No one’s claiming it is any different, especially around here. [/QUOTE] Nah, snake-oil had a chance of being some use - if you used Chinese snakes > [@](#): > > Given Dr. Richard Kunin’s 1989 analysis[2], it appears that the Chinese snake oil made from Chinese water snakes is very high in EPA. This substance is known to be a pain reliever, as EPAs are absorbed through the skin and are the parent of the series 3 prostaglandins which inhibit the production of pro-inflammatory series 2 prostaglandins, and the Chinese snake oil products may contain up to 4% of it. > From a purely pharmacochemical perspective, it is likely that the genuine Chinese snake oil is not fraudulent, at least for its intended purpose, since EPA indeed is an effective anti-inflammatory agent. On the other hand, American products made from rattlesnake fats, which have at most 1/3 of the EPA concentration of Enhydris chinensis fat, are likely to have been inferior or even useless for similar purposes [Wiki again, sorry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_oil) I suppose you could claim there is so little of the active ingredient in the American snake-oil that it counts as a homeopathic medicine - and therefore is _ **more** _ effective ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/10 "2008-04-05T17:51:11Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] How is snake oil any different from the herbal crap sold all over the internet today? [/QUOTE] There are a lot of ingredients they used back then that are illegal now in over-the-counter products. Also, even when the juice is the same, the claims are different. Today, the claims are vague and ambiguous. Back then, they were very specific ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/11 "2008-04-05T23:20:21Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] There are a lot of ingredients they used back then that are illegal now in over-the-counter products. Also, even when the juice is the same, the claims are different. Today, the claims are vague and ambiguous. Back then, they were very specific [/QUOTE] I can’t tell if this is a joke, but it’s certainly not true except for a very unusual sense of “specific.” Patent medicines made claim to cure many, even dozens of different (and today known to be unrelated) diseases. They essentially would cure whatever ailed ya. Here is an [1881 ad](http://www.mum.org/mrspink3.htm) for Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound. That’s a short and mild list of ailments compared to the claims the snake oil salesmen made. Herbal medicines today probably are far more focused on particular diseases. There are also modern snake oil variants that purport to be scientific, [hexagonal water](http://www.aquatechnology.net/hexagonalwater.html') being one of my favorites. Its claims are oddly similar to Lydia’s: > [@](#): > > · greater energy > · rapid hydration > · heightened immune function > · better nutrient absorption > · longevity > · weight loss > · greater metabolic efficiency There is no difference between then and now except for the packaging. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/12 "2008-04-06T00:17:30Z")
There was a Popeye cartoon from the 1960s King Features series that in retrospect seems rather odd: Popeye was running a medicine show, and Brutus was a regular doctor trying to discredit him. So what exactly was the moral of that supposed to be- that modern scientific medicine is a sham and we should trust good old-fashioned home remedies?!? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/13 "2008-04-06T00:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] In the Cher song, [/QUOTE] Where are they still playing that song on the radio? I did a parody on it about my old high school weightlifting [days.](http://www.amiright.com/parody/70s/cher26.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/14 "2008-04-06T10:57:49Z")
Hmm…I wonder if Lydia Pinkham was the inspiration for the song [“Lily the Pink”](http://www.irish-song-lyrics.com/Lily_The_Pink.shtml), it seems I’m not the only one that has occurred to. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/15 "2008-04-06T14:42:33Z")
Thanks a lot. I will have that song in my head for the next several hours. It would help if I knew a few more of the words so I didn’t have to keep doing the same ones over and over. Oh well maybe later I can switch to Linda Ronstadt (It’s So Easy!) ---
**Author:** ![noctilucent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b38774/32.png) [@noctilucent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noctilucent)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/16 "2008-04-06T15:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=kayT] Thanks a lot. I will have that song in my head for the next several hours. It would help if I knew a few more of the words so I didn’t have to keep doing the same ones over and over. Oh well maybe later I can switch to Linda Ronstadt (It’s So Easy!) [/QUOTE] [Here you go.](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/cher/gypsies+tramps+thieves_20029746.html) ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_B.Phart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Capt\_B.Phart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_B.Phart)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/17 "2008-04-06T16:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Notice how many different slang terms we’ve already used. That’s an indication of how ubiquitous these shows and medicines used to be. [/QUOTE] This made me think of the doctor in “Mummers plays” whose origins go back into the mists of time in England (and in other forms in the rest of Europe) – there are hundreds of these plays and they vary from place to place and with time as people update them I Googled and this [came up:-](http://www.folkplay.info/Texts.htm#QuackDoctor) > [@](#): > > I have introduced the new term Quack Doctor Play to replace “mummers’ play” or “mumming play”, for the reasons just explained. Other terms that have been suggested in the past are either too generic or are subjective and cumbersome [6]. By contrast, Quack Doctor Play is succinct and objective. The Doctor is the one ubiquitous character in these plays that both defines the genre and serves to distinguish it from other folk plays… > …This major class covers most English folk plays. As the name implies, the key character in these plays is a quack doctor The Quack character must have been recognisable to every generation since the Middle Ages and probably long before [ > [@](#): > > I am a doctor who travels far and near and much at home; Take these my pills to cure all ills - the past, the present and to come. ]([http://www.folkplay.info/Texts/92nz42pn.htm](http://www.folkplay.info/Texts/92nz42pn.htm)) The modern Internet Quack differs only in that there’s no longer any need to travel, there is still “one born every minute” but now the Quack can stay home and wait for the tubes to bring them to him ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/18 "2008-04-08T13:32:42Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] I can’t tell if this is a joke, but it’s certainly not true except for a very unusual sense of “specific.” [/QUOTE] Not a joke at all. In the “snake oil” days, they could claim that a drink did something very specific, like cure cancer. Now, they can’t say that, so they’ll claim something untestable or vague instead, as in your examples. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/19 "2008-04-08T13:43:42Z")
[QUOTE=irishgirl] Hmm…I wonder if Lydia Pinkham was the inspiration for the song [“Lily the Pink”](http://www.irish-song-lyrics.com/Lily_The_Pink.shtml), it seems I’m not the only one that has occurred to. [/QUOTE] Yep, ‘Lily the Pink’ (or at least the version we’re familiar with) is a sanitised version. > **[Lydia Pinkham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Pinkham#The_Ballad_of_Lydia_Pinkham)** > > Lydia Estes Pinkham (born Estes; February 9, 1819 – May 17, 1883) was an American inventor and marketer of a herbal-alcoholic "women's tonic" for menstrual and menopausal problems, which medical experts dismissed as a quack remedy, but which is still on sale today in a modified form. > It was the aggressive marketing of Pinkham's Vegetable Compound that raised its profile, while also rallying the skeptics. Long, promotional copy would dramatize "women's weakness", "hysteria", and other themes comm... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058/20 "2008-04-08T14:09:39Z")
[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat] Not a joke at all. In the “snake oil” days, they could claim that a drink did something very specific, like cure cancer. Now, they can’t say that, so they’ll claim something untestable or vague instead, as in your examples. [/QUOTE] But this is still not at all true. Snake oil salesmen were notorious for claiming that literally dozens of ailments could be cured, and as the Lydia Pinkham ad showed they could be either specific or general complaints. When one says that a dozen totally unrelated problems can be cured by one magic elixir, that’s not “specific” except in the oddest of meanings. Herbal cures today make claims in exactly the same way, some extremely specific, as in homeopathy, and some broadly general, and many both at once. If you can somehow manage to believe that they can’t say something specific today, you’ve never typed herbal cancer cures into Google. Do a bit of research into your claims before you make them. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-doctor-good-gypsys-tramps-and-thieves/444058.md?page=2)