The Grass is Greener….
Where? Why? When? I Want Some.
If ever there was something to talk about, it would be this: The grass is always greener on the other side. You might ask the other side of what? It is just an example to illustrate how yearning never seems to end and whatever it is that you want always seems to be out of reach.
Madison Avenue has, since before Madison Avenue ever existed, used this as a selling point for pretty much everything.
Like Carter’s Little Liver Pills. This was one of those remedies sold a long time ago that would cure pretty much whatever ailed you. Carter’s Little Liver Pills were also so small that my family referred to them quite frequently. My family, probably older than your own being as I’m almost older than Methuselah was, used to say things like, “You’ve got more toys than Carter’s Little Liver Pills. Please clean up your bedroom.”
I never really knew what Carter’s Little Liver Pills cured. From the name, it would imply something to do with your liver. In fact, the FDA required a name change in 1959 since the cures touted had nothing to do with your liver. When John Carter came up with them in 1868, he said they would take care of headaches, constipation, biliousness, and dyspepsia. We all know what headaches and constipation are. Biliousness is bad digestion, stomach pain, constipation, and flatulence. We pretty much take Tums or Pepto Bismol for these things. Dyspepsia is indigestion. Again, with the Tums and Pepto. Or don’t eat so much.
You can actually buy them on Amazon. The lettering on the package is in French, and they are called Carter’s Pills. According to the reviews, they work as advertised: a powerful laxative.
So, with Carter’s Little Liver Pills, the cure was the pill. The solution was probably to change your diet or not drink so much the night before. Besides, who wants to eat healthier when your diet probably couldn’t be changed much in the first place back in the day? Many people, even now, don’t have the luxury of being able to pick and choose what they want to eat. You ate what you ate and were thankful that you had anything to eat in the first place.
The reason why I say many people is that most people were poor in those days. The gulf between rich and poor was wide, and the middle class didn’t come into existence in the US until 30 years, give or take, before the Civil War began, which would have put it in the 1830s. In Europe, there was a reference made in James Bradshaw’s 1745 pamphlet, where he spoke of running Irish Wools to France and how if they quit importing from Spain, the folks weaving and spinning in Ireland would be doing better.
From time immemorial, a huge selling point for everything is to ensure that the purchaser does not lose out. The buyer should be made to feel that they are missing out, that they’d better purchase whatever it is before it is gone, and that their neighbors are doing better than themselves, so wanting something is the civilized thing to do. This is where stealing and coveting began. Lawlessness and wild sex probably also figured into all of this.
Why can’t a person just be satisfied with what they have? Why do you need more toys, better and faster cars, and more gizmos on your coffee machines? Why do you have to buy the latest fashion in clothes and shoes when what you’ve got is probably going to last another ten years?
Why?
Because the grass is always greener on the other side. Why grass? Because of the way cows hang their heads over fences, they want to get into the next field for what looks to be the greener grass. It comes from life on the farm. Who knows? The grass may be greener on the other side, after all.
The Links: Carter’s Little Liver Pills from Wikipedia The Middle Class from Wikipedia James Bradshaw’s 1745 pamphlet from Google Books