Since no one has put out a notice of this, I thought I would.  I think
everyone on the FORUM will enjoy it.

Sunday's NYTimes, the Week in Review section, carried a long commentary on
the corporate scandals of the past several months.  Under the heading
"Salemanship Got Us In. Can It Get Us Out?" the whole page above the fold
is on hucksterism and how "American" it is.  "Hucksters are rife on the
American scene," runs a sub-head.  "Just read 'Huckleberry Finn.'"

One paragraph begins, "It turns out that the end-of-the-century sales pitch
was not so different from those of the swindlers among the river-town rubes
in 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.'"

Paralleling the literary allusion is an icon of late nineteenth-century
hucksterism.  Centered on the page is a large color image of a 19th c.
bottle of snake oil--"RHEUMATIC REMEDY."  "SAFE" is printed in large
capital letters, and a drawing of a huge steel bank safe marked "Warner's
Safe Remedies" in the middle of the label makes the point literal.

Guaranteed by Warner's Safe Remedies Co., this elixir will cure "Sciatica,
Lumbago, Gout, Neuralgia and All Rheumatic Affections."  They're hard to
read, but down in the corner of the label a person can make out some
names--Arthur Anderson, Enron, WorldCom and a lot of others.  Nah, that's
impossible, of course.

Oh, did I say?  12% alcohol.

The references to Huck Finn add authenticity to the piece, as well as a
certain intellectual and artistic panache.  The writer, Jennifer
Steinhauer, counted on her audience's familiarity with this
quintessentially American novel, especially the King and the Duke but much
else, too, that the novel exposes about the less-than-sunny side of
America. The piece makes the corporate book-cooking recently brought to
light look like a high-toned Royal Nonesuch.  The piece wonders if there
will be any genuine remedy.  We might wonder if that includes even one as
mild as tar and feathers?

Terry Oggel