The Gates of Heaven. St Peter says to a newcomer: “Sorry, we’re fully booked at the moment, but you can wait at the bar until something opens up.”
Don’t try to slip him a twenty.
I’ve shown you Captain Tootsie before — he was the Captain Marvel knock-off who was designed to sell Tootsie Rolls. Well, Captain Hadacol was in a league of his own:
Hadacol was a vitamin tonic that was immensely popular in the South. Whatever was wrong with you, Hadacol would fix it. Its inventor became a multi-millionaire and a longtime state senator in Louisiana. It advertised relentlessly; the centerpiece was the Hadacol Caravan, which was basically a traveling Grand Ol’ Opry that played to huge crowds and featured country stars like Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl. There were even hit songs about Hadacol.
But why was Hadacol really so popular? What made it different from other vitamin tonics?
Booze. Hadacol was 12% alcohol (about the same as wine). A lot of the South was still dry, even after Prohibition, so Hadacol was the only game in town. There were pharmacies where you could buy Hadacol by the shot.
Which makes it even more hilarious that they made Captain Hadacol comic books for kids. The comics are full of testimonials from parents about how Hadacol fixed their children’s eating/ sleeping/ teething issues.
It seems like a perverse confession that Captain Hadacol’s whole personality changes as soon as he takes a slug; it makes the booze connection so obvious, except that his personality gets better. He’s like a less realistic version of The Brown Bottle from Viz Comics.
Senator LeBlanc, the creator of Hadacol, was once a guest on Groucho Marx’s “You Bet Your Life.” Groucho asked him what Hadacol was actually good for, and the Senator replied, “It was good for five million dollars for me last year.”
The company eventually collapsed. The Senator was spending more on advertising than he made on sales, and as liquor laws became more liberal, sneaky tonics like Hadacol became less necessary.
Draw my cartoons. Send them here. I’ll post ‘em.
Very interesting post and bit of history.
Unique comic , So captain Hadacol , had to get drunk to be a hero . I can understand that some . Great history on Hadacol From you Josh . I am sure there were other parts of the country that did almost the same thing during that time . With other so called vitamins and cough syrups . Great post my friend , Peace to you and your readers Josh