Hadacol was a patent medicine marketed as a vitamin supplement. Its principal attraction, however, was that it contained 12 percent alcohol (listed on the tonic bottle's label as a "preservative"), which made it quite popular in the dry counties of the southern United States. It was the product of four-term Louisiana State Senator Dudley J. LeBlanc, a Democrat from Erath in Vermilion Parish in southwestern Louisiana. He was not a medical doctor, nor a registered pharmacist, but had a strong talent for self-promotion. Time magazine once described him as "a stem-winding salesman who knows every razzle-dazzle switch in the pitchman's trade".
Dosage The label on the tonic's bottle clearly stated that the recommended dosage (1 tablespoonful taken 4 times a day) was to be taken "...in a 1/2 glass of water after meals and before retiring". However, some pharmacies in dry counties were known to sell it by the shot-glass and at least one bar in New Orleans' French Quarter was known to sell a "Tassel Cocktail" with Hadacol as an ingredient. In Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, sales of Hadacol were limited to liquor stores. One of the tonic's unusual ingredients, "diluted acid hydrochloric", is what is known as a "hydrochloric wash": a heavily diluted form of the acid that opens the arteries and allows the body's quicker absorption of the other ingredients, including the 12 percent alcohol "preservative".
Promotion
LeBlanc, a consummate salesman, created the name from his business, the Happy Day Company, formerly the maker of Happy Day Headache Powders (which the Food and Drug Administration had seized in 1942, as dangerous to health, and falsely labeled) and Dixie Dew Cough Syrup. His own last name provided the "L" (however the resultant -ol at the end of the name also was helpfully indicative of the nostrum's alcohol content). When LeBlanc was asked about the name, he would often joke "Well, I hadda' call it something!" A two-page advertisement for Hadacol appeared in the centerfold of the 1951 edition of Grier's Almanac, an annual publication marketed to farmers in the Southern US. The ad's headline read (in very large type):
Don't Be Satisfied With Symptomatic Relief! It's Possible to RELIEVE THE CAUSE OF YOUR AILMENTS When Lack Of Vitamins B1, B2, Iron and Niacin Cause Stomach Disturbances, Gas, Heartburn, Indigestion, Nagging Aches and Pains, and Certain Nervous Disorders. The advertisement continued with testimonials and a glowing plug for Senator LeBlanc, stressing the curative powers of Hadacol for a number of ailments "...due to lack of Vitamins B1, B2, Iron and Niacin". A capsule version of Hadacol was briefly produced, consisting solely of a B-Vitamin and mineral mixture. LeBlanc promoted the tonic as a dietary supplement instead of a medicine, stating that it was "...formulated as an Aid to Nature in rebuilding the Pep, Strength and Energy of Buoyant Health when the System is deficient in the Vitamins and Minerals found in this Tonic..." But Time Magazine described it as "a murky brown liquid that tastes something like bilge water, and smells worse." The American Medical Association was also unappreciative. In an official press release in 1951, the AMA stated "It is hoped that no doctor will be uncritical enough to join in the promotion of Hadacol. It is difficult to imagine how one could do himself or his profession greater harm from the standpoint of the abuse of the trust of a patient suffering from any condition. Hadacol is not a specific medication. It is not even a specific preventive measure." LeBlanc flooded the airwaves with testimonials to the powers of the seemingly miraculous (yet foul tasting) brown liquid and turned the jingle called "Hadacol Boogie" into a popular recording. Promotional items included various fliers, signs and clocks, a "Captain Hadacol" comic book, T-shirts, lipstick, an almanac, plastic thimbles printed with the Hadacol logo, water pistols and cowboy-style holsters, glasses used for taking the diluted mixture, and a stamped metal token redeemable for 25¢ towards the purchase of any bottle of Hadacol (LeBlanc placed his own portrait on the front of the token, and the trademarked logo on the back). These items, along with the Hadacol bottles and the boxes they were packaged in, are now sought-after items and fetch high prices among collectors of Southern memorabilia and medical quackery. In 1950, LeBlanc offered a handsome financial incentive to anyone who could provide him with a parrot that was trained to say "Polly wants Hadacol!" The parrot was to be exhibited at promotions. The offer included the following:
The owner of such a bird, if selected, will be given a reasonable compensation on a contract basis. The owner and the parrot will travel in a limousine with the parrot's name engraved in gold on the door and will stay only at the best hotels. The parrot will be furnished a gold cage and its life insured. The parrot will visit large drugstores, perform at conventions, etc., and may be presented on radio and television. The Le Blanc Corporation has a triple A high credit rating.
The Hadacol Caravan According to musician Weldon "Big Bill" Lister, who performed in the Hadacol Caravan, "The only way you could get into that show was with a Hadacol boxtop, And believe me, we played to crowds of ten, twelve thousand people a night. Back in those days there wasn't many auditoriums that would hold that many people. We played ball parks, race tracks - you know anywhere where they had enough big bleachers to handle those kind of crowds." The final show was on 17 September 1951. Paul Schrader wrote a script entitled Eight Scenes from the Life of Hank Williams, which has not yet been produced. It includes a sequence on his performances with the Hadacol Caravan.
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