Medicine shows were common in the 19th century. A traveling horse and wagon team with a smooth talking salesman would sell elixirs that were supposed to have the ability to cure any disease, smooth wrinkles, remove stains, or cure any number of common ailments. Entertainment was often included as in this painting where a young boy plays the banjo while the showman peddles his ware. Towns people begin to gather as the salesman bamboozles them into spending their money.