La Vanguardia could report at the end of the 19th century on the arrival in Barcelona of the Buffalo Bill circus and publish an ad about cod liver oil. This miracle product has been used since ancient times, although its benefits as a nutritional supplement were not confirmed until relatively recently. Only two things aroused and arouse unanimity about such oil: its nauseating taste and smell.
An old ad said that children asked for this substance "screaming." Although it was true that the little ones bawled as soon as they saw the bottle of cod liver appear, they did so because they were trying to run away. Or to vomit a concoction that would make a statue's nose wrinkle. And yet, the excellence of such a fetid solution was already sung in classical Rome (where, let's not forget, robes were bleached with urine).
The fishing communities of northern Europe have also resorted since time immemorial to this substance as a cure-all remedy. There is only one plausible explanation for the product's success: despite its smelly characteristics, it worked. The list of ailments that "this wonderful restorative" could remedy was extensive, according to another advertisement published at the end of the 19th century by La Vanguardia...
Publicists at the time noted that it "was perfect and efficacious for the relief and cure of consumption, scrofula (a variety of tuberculosis), colds, chronic coughs, and sore throats, as well as strenuous illnesses such as rickets and marasmus in children (severe calorie and protein deficiency), anemia and emaciation (growth problems), as well as rheumatism in adults.
But, of course, there was still the problem of taste and smell. That's why we've played the ads we've played. They are not those of any brand of cod liver oil, but those of Scott's emulsion, which still exists and is still on the market. The firm, which today belongs to the British pharmaceutical multinational Glaxo-SmithKline, has a very curious history and dates back to the effervescent New York of 1873.
Two clever megalopolis hustlers, Alfred B. Scott and his friend Samuel W. Bowne, saw business opportunities in cod liver oil that year. They were not doctors, scientists or pharmacists. They didn't even need to: they had a sense of smell. In a metaphorical and literal sense. The first ones, it was said, that attenuate the smell and the taste of this product a little would be made of gold. In 1876 they founded their company, Scott
The two partners were also champions of advertising and soon Scott's emulsion, the name of his creation, was known throughout the world. The success was immediate. The business expanded throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, while factories grew in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain, among other countries. The image of a fisherman with a huge cod on his back became the symbol of the house.
Alfred B. Scott claimed that this fisherman existed and that he saw him on a business trip in Norway, as some advertisements acknowledged. The syrup that Glaxo-SmithKline currently sells is supplied in pill form or in the original form (or cherry or orange flavored for the most discriminating palates). A 21st century consumer will wonder what the other cod oils tasted like, if this was the nicest back then.
The same advertising image extolled in Spanish its benefits against "consumption and chest conditions"; in French it said that "doctors recommend its use"; and in English, that the fisherman's scene was "drawn from the life of the Norwegian coast." The advertisement first appeared in 1884 and its logo became a registered trademark in 1890, as confirmed by the archive of the United States Library of Congress.
Other data supports the longevity of the symbol. Few books on the history of gastronomy are as entertaining and rigorous as The Cod: Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, by Mark Kurlansky. The work, very appetizing, has known several editions in Spanish. One of them, El Gallo de Oro, used for its cover the very famous image with slight variations (abracadabra, the original hat was transformed into a beret).
Where would cod oil have gone if it smelled and tasted like, say, honey? Would it have had a roof? We will not assess its palatability; its aroma, yes: it is somewhere between not very fresh fish and rotten fish. His fame, however, did not diminish. "Give strength to the weak, meat to the stunted, and cure tuberculosis," proclaimed 19th-century advertising. And, you know, you have to doubt advertising as much as panaceas.
The miracle of this substance lies in its value as a food supplement and its contribution in omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, phosphorus and vitamins A and D. These components are very healthy for the growth and development of bones, both in adults and in children. children. But, as in everything, it is convenient not to exaggerate. Pediatricians in the United States gave mothers at the beginning of the 20th century controversial advice for their supply.
These recommendations consisted, for example, of "squeezing the baby's cheeks to force him to swallow and not spit." Although its consumption is beneficial, excesses are bad and uncontrolled intake can cause hypervitaminosis, a very harmful and toxic situation for the body. Nonsense, would say Alfred B. Scott and his friend Samuel W. Bowne, who died two years apart, in 1908 and 1910, filthy rich.
The production of synthetic vitamins (sometimes in the form of appetizing pills coated in sugar or glycerin) and the vitamin fortification of other foods could have been the icing on the cake for the society that these two friends created in New York. But his revolutionary emulsion is still on the market, almost a century and a half later. The formula has barely changed, although there are more sweetened varieties.
Competing cod liver oils are also on the market. Scott's emulsion has lost its strength in countries like Spain and the United States, although not in Asia and much of America. The fisherman with his cod on his back is still the symbol of the product, which is no longer advertised as curing all imaginable ills, but as a good traditional remedy. It does not work miracles, but it helps health.
In the past it was for sale "in all pharmacies and drugstores." Most of the current sales are made through the internet. Glaxo-SmithKline, which offers the emulsion in its catalogue, has also removed the more questionable taglines it once had. No one says anymore that "children are crying out for it." And, although its flavor has improved, no one dares to proclaim that "it is as pleasant to the palate as milk".
