By William “Skip” Deegans
This advertisement for Sloan’s Liniment appeared in numerous small town newspapers, including Lewisburg’s Greenbrier Independent in the early 1900s, and was the key to the success of the product. Andrew Sloan and his family immigrated from Ireland to Ohio after the American Revolution. He was a horse harness maker and self-taught veterinarian who developed a strong smelling brown formula to reduce joint pain and inflammation for horses. One of his sons, Earl Sloan, abandoned his work as an apprentice harness maker, moved to St. Louis in 1871, and began selling his father’s horse liniment. By 1885, he figured it was also beneficial for humans. The liniment is purported to relieve pain associated with rheumatism, arthritis, lumbago, and minor strains and sprains. Sloan also claimed it would provide relief from mosquito bites. He was never a doctor but added the abbreviation to his advertisements to lend creditability to his product.
Sloan and his business moved to Boston, and by 1907 the product was being sold in the United States, South America, Australia, Europe, and Canada. In 1913, Sloan sold his business to William R. Warner & Co. that merged with Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Co. in 1955. In 2000 the business was acquired by Pfizer. Now promoted as holistic medicine, the liniment contains chili pepper and natural oils and can be purchased on Amazon for about $25 a bottle.
Sloan died a wealthy man in 1923 and left significant amounts of his estate to libraries in his hometown of Zanesfield, Ohio, and in his winter home in New Bern, North Carolina. He also left money to fund the Sloan Industrial School for boys and girls in Ohio.
Sources: New Bern Historical Society, Ohio History Connection, The Boston Globe.
