why did people use to take Carter's little liver pills ?

Question

and do they still sell them

Answer 1

As I recall they were nothing but a laxative. Previous generations had their share of sedentary aging people who didn't get enough fiber in their diets. It was a successful enterprise because of the public's gullibility to slick marketing and advertising, something that continues unabated to the present day. Witness all the questions on Answers regarding colon cleansers!

Carter's posters and advertising cards are popular collectable items. I don't know whether the pills are still sold, but the active ingredient, bisacodyl, still is.

Carter's Little Liver Pills had nothing to do with the liver. Eventually the FDA or other federal organization forbade them to use "liver" and they were marketed as Carter's Little Pills.

Answer 2

ccessCollege & Grad SchoolDegrees & TrainingQuizzesMore Additional Reference Materials Thesaurus Translations Multimedia Other Resources Education Resources Foreign Language Help Project Planner Scholarships & Financial Aid Jobs & Internships Coffee Break Ask Bill Nye the Science Guy Top 10 Lists Columns On This Day Help Appears in Picture from Encarta Carter’s Little Liver Pills Carter’s Little Liver Pills The difficulty of reaching doctors in rural areas of the United States in the late 19th century made patent medicine companies quite successful. These companies placed advertisements in newspapers and magazines for their products, which they claimed were “guaranteed to cure your ills.” Another means of advertising was trade cards (now called advertising cards), which were printed up by the hundreds and handed out in various public places. The trade card shown here advertises Carter’s Little Liver Pills, which supposedly cured “sick headache,” biliousness, constipation, and bad complexions. THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE Appears in these articles: Advertising; United States (People)