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Kickapoo Joy Juice
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Business New Haven
12/1/1994
By:
Priscilla Searles
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Is there anyone out there that remembers the Li'l Abner comic strip and Kickapoo Joy Juice? For those of you who thought that jug of Kickapoo was fictional, it wasn't. Al Capp (a native New Havener) didn't make up Kickapoo Joy Juice, he just borrowed the name of a product made in New Haven.
The Kickapoos were Algonquian-speaking Indians from the Great Lakes area. Opposed to the European's invasion of their lands, the Kickapoos supported the English during the Revolution and the War of 1812. Forced to give up their land, many ended up in Oklahoma and Kansas. But that doesn't explain how they ended up in New Haven. It was in Kansas that we believe John H. Healy and Charles H. Bigelow were introduced to the Kickapoo Indians and to the Indian medicines. Healy and Bigelow saw the possibilities: Bring the Indians to New Haven and get into the Indian remedies business. What a country!
But came they did. The business was set up in 1891 in a building on Grand Avenue, owned by Healy. Formerly the Barnesville Hotel, it became the home or "wigwam" for an extremely successful financial venture. The product line included remedies such as Sagwa (a blood liver and stomach renovator), Indian Worm Killer, Kickapoo Cough Cure, Kickapoo Salve, Kickapoo Indian Oil and, well, use your imagination. Healy and Bigelow did. They just tapped into the Kickapoo Indian "formulas" and ran with it!
Various Kickapoo medicines claimed to cure coughs, colds, all skin diseases, worms, loss of appetite, constipation, cholera and a few other maladies too indelicate to mention here. Sagwa sold for a dollar a bottle (expensive by 19th century standards) and Indian Worm Secret was a whopping $5. Kickapoo Indian Oil was a bargain at 25 cents. The company succeeded because people truly believed the products worked. Healy and Bigelow published several books to promote their product line. The Kickapoo Indian Dream Book, for example, listed the meaning of every possible dream, real or imaged and combined the dream analysis with a heavy dose of statements from satisfied customers.
"Doctor's Useless. Kickapoo Indian Sagwa Proves the Only Cure," and "I suffered for 10 years. Kickapoo Indian Remedies cured when all else failed," were typical statements appearing in Healy & Bigelow books and advertisements. In fact, the ads claimed Kickapoo products cured everything from blood poising to coughs to skin diseases.
The Kickapoos traveled with as many as 25 medicine shows, a major marketing tool for Kickapoo Medicines. The Kickapoos were a big hit, both in New Haven and around the country. Fitting into the New Haven community with apparent ease, they searched the area for bloodroot , barks, leaves, flowers, gums and other ingredients for their remedies. Buffalo Bill Cody, a friend of Bigelow, would visit the Kickapoo plant with the Indians from his show when he brought his wild west show to New Haven. It must have been quite a party. The medicine shows, popular until the 1930s, were a major entertainment in off- the- beaten path locales; they featured Indian dancing, Wild West shows, free concerts and, of course, the big pitch for Kickapoo Indian Remedies. That, after all, was the reason for going on the road in the first place ... entertain a little, sell a lot.
In 1893 the plant was moved to Chapel Street and in 1901 to Clintonville, employing at its peak as many as 300 people. Healy and Bigelow, having realized considerable profit from their venture, sold their interest in the company and, according to some, traveled the world. No one seems to know exactly when Kickapoo products disappeared from the market. As for me, I'm going to pay close attention to the next western movie on the late-late show. Bet you I'll find at least one medicine man pitching Kickapoo.
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