What does "doctor good" mean?

In the days of travelling fairs many fake medicines were sold with the promise that they could cure almost anything. They usually contained ingredients like camphor, menthol, eucalyptus, pepper and alcohol and were either designed for rubbing in or drinking. Often known as 'Snake Oil' they sometimes bore the name of a fictitious 'Doctor' and as they did genuinely make you feel good either due to the warming effect of the alcohol or camphor the common name for such a remedy was 'Doctor Good'. Thus in the song Cher was saying that her father didn't have any particular skills so, like a lot in his day, he would preach a 'Blood and Thunder' type gospel, probably grasping a Bible for effect, whilst extolling the virtues and benefits of his 'medicine'. Thus he would profit two ways, one from having someone pass a hat round for a collection and secondly from selling the potion. Usually such fairs would only stay a few days as the medicines didn't work and the fair people would also be adept thieves, hence the title 'Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves' which is how these people were seen. (Tramps as in 'hoboes')

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RE:

What does "doctor good" mean?

In her "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves" Cher sings

"Papa would do whatever he could

Preach a little gospel, sell a couple bottles of doctor good"

What do you mean by "doctor good"? Does it mean wine/liquor ?

I couldn't find any explanation in...

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It can be innocent, or naughty, depending on the parties involved. A lot of times young children will explore eachother in a manner that might involve private parts, and this is called playing doctor. When referring to adults, this means... well, you know.

"Doctor Good" is a brand name given to a fictitious snake oil type remedy which the gypsies sold, usually nothing but sugar and alcohol.

It probably is indeed whiskey, liquer, or 'snake oil'.

G'day Seaman,

Thanks for the question.

I have always assumed that it was patent medicine. Patent medicine is the term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were for the most part actually trademarked medicines, not patented. In ancient times, such medicine was called nostrum remedium, "our remedy" in Latin, hence the name "nostrum"; it is a medicine whose efficacy is questionable and whose ingredients are usually kept secret. The name patent medicine has become particularly associated with the sale of drug compounds in the nineteenth century under cover of colourful names and even more colourful claims. The promotion of patent medicines was one of the first major products of the advertising industry, and many advertising and sales techniques were pioneered by patent medicine promoters. Patent medicine advertising often talked up exotic ingredients, even if their actual effects came from more prosaic drugs. One memorable group of patent medicines — liniments that allegedly contained snake oil, supposedly a universal panacea — made snake oil salesman a lasting synonym for a charlatan.

While various herbs, touted or alluded to, were talked up in the advertising, their actual effects often came from opium extracts, cocaine, or grain alcohol. Those containing opiates were at least effective in relieving pain, though they could result in addiction. This hazard was sufficiently well known that many were advertised as causing none of the harmful effects of opium (though many of those so advertised actually did contain opium) In the case of medicines for "female complaints", the principal "Female complaint" that the medicine was intended to treat was early pregnancy; such products contained ingredients capable of causing abortion, such as pennyroyal, tansy or savin.

These medicines were often sold in so-called medicine shows. Another method of publicity undertaken mostly by smaller firms was the "medicine show," a travelling circus of sorts which offered vaudeville-style entertainments on a small scale, and which climaxed in a pitch for the nostrum being sold. Muscleman acts were especially popular on these tours, for this enabled the salesman to tout the physical vigour offered by the potion he was selling. The showmen frequently employed shills, who would step forward from the crowd and offer "unsolicited" testimonials about the benefits of the medicine for sale. Oftentimes, the nostrum was manufactured and bottled in the same wagon that the show travelled in. The Kickapoo Indian Medicine Company became one of the largest and most successful medicine show operators; their shows had an American Indian or Wild West theme, and employed many Native Americans as spokespeople. The medicine show lived on in American folklore and Western movies long after they had vanished from public meeting places.

The developers of such potions often claimed to be doctors. ‘Dr’ Sibley, an English patent medicine seller of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, even went so far as to claim that his Reanimating Solar Tincture would, as the name implies, ‘restore life in the event of sudden death’. Another English quack, ‘Dr Solomon’ claimed that his Cordial Balm of Gilead cured almost anything, but was particularly effective against all venereal complaints, from gonorrhoea to onanism. Although it was basically just brandy flavoured with herbs, it retailed widely at 33 shillings a bottle in the period of the Napoleonic wars, the equivalent of over $100 per bottle today.

Regarding your question, these medications often contained alcohol or other drugs. Until the twentieth century alcohol was the most controversial ingredient; for it was widely recognised that the "medicines" could continue to be sold for their alleged curative properties even in prohibition states and counties. Many of the medicines were in fact liqueurs of various sorts, flavoured with herbs said to have medical properties. Peruna was a famous "Prohibition tonic," weighing in at around 18% grain alcohol. A nostrum known as "Jamaica ginger" was ordered to change its formula by Prohibition officials; to fool a chemical test, some vendors added a toxic chemical, cresyl phosphate, an organophosphate compound that had effects similar to a nerve agent. Unwary imbibers suffered a form of paralysis that came to be known as jake-leg. Some included laxatives such as senna or diuretics, in order to give the compounds some obvious medical effects. The narcotics and stimulants at least had the virtue of making the people who took them feel better, and in the eyes of the advertisers this was scored as a "cure."

"Gypsies Tramps and Thieves" was Cher's first solo number 1 in the US on November 6 in 1971. She also went to number 1 in Canada and went top 5 in the UK and Ireland.

The title of this song has also been shown with alternate spellings of "Gypsys" / "Gypsies.

I have attached some sources for your reference. If you woudl like to read more about patent medicines, I'd recommend:

* The Golden Age of Quackery, Stewart A. Holbrook. (Boston: MacMillan & Co., 1959)

* The Great American Medicine Show, David and Elizabeth M. Armstrong, (New York, Prentice-Hall, 1991) ISBN 0-13-364027-2

* Young, J. H. (1961) The Toadstool Millionaires: A social history of patent medicines in America before federal regulation. Princeton University Press. 282pp.

Regards