Talk:Snake oil/Archives/2015

In Popular Culture

Was there not a Michael Jackson music video from the 1980s that showed him and a few others peddling some sort of bottled medicine from an old truck to some small-town folk? Presumably some sort of 'snake oil'? (The setting was early 1900s). I can't remember the name of the song, but wonder if it could be included in this section. Anybody recall it?...Engr105th (talk) 19:10, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

"Say Say Say: 1983 music video of the song in which Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson peddle a magic elixir that supposedly increases one's strength instantaneously." Hexmaster.se (talk) 20:25, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

The Myth of the Chinese Origin

The supposed fact, that snake oil was introduced in the USA by Chinese immigrants, is pretty much everywhere you look for snake oil history. It is wrong. "The use of snake oil is neither new nor confined to the Americas. It was, in fact, both ancient and widespread; it was a well-known remedy long before rattlesnakes had been brought to the attention of Europeans, viper oil being commonly recommended for the same afflictions for which rattlesnake oil was subsequently favored [...]" (Laurence M. Klauber, Rattlesnakes vol 1 (U of California Press 1956). I'd really like to remove that part from the article, but I'm pretty sure it would be replaced by people who don't know or care and prefer the old myth. Hexmaster.se (talk) 10:52, 29 March 2015 (UTC)

America centric?

Why is it that Wikipedia articles have a tenancy toward American based examples? This is NOT acceptable! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.35.188.146 (talk) 11:31, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

The reason some Wikipedia articles may seem to gravitate toward American examples and information is that a significant percentage of its contributors are American, and a significant group of those American contributors would bemore likely to be familiar with American examples, causing some articles to seem America-centric. This is probably true even more so when you include Commonwealth countries, which ends up being because on the English Wikipedia many of the editors are from major English-speaking countries, and a significant portion of those editors are most familiar with their own countries, or neighboring countries. And I agree, it's not acceptable, and it's best that all editors try to make sure that all articles reflect a worldwide view of a subject, and help improve articles that do not wherever they are able.

That being said, I don't think this is a problematic article, and rather I think the whole thing is very thorough, and does not favor any particular country. So I'm notsure whatyou're talking about there. Calgary (talk) 03:42, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

AFAIK, snake oil is an American phenomenon. Kortoso (talk) 16:30, 20 August 2013 (UTC)

Snake oil, snake fat and other snake-related products has been used for centuries, even in Europe. See e.g. Richard Swiderski, Poison Eaters (2010). Hexmaster.se (talk) 19:02, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

The second paragraph is very America centric: "it was never confined to the Americas". This is disproving a statement that was never mentioned, only implied. Ginister (talk) 22:45, 24 December 2015 (UTC)