Adventures in maritime quackery: The Leslie E. Keeley Gold Cure Institute of Fredericton, N.B.

Abstract

The Keeley movement in North America, which provided great riches for its founders, sobriety to some of its followers, and blindness and pain to a few unfortunates, is simple to dismiss as an isolated example of 19th century greed and credulity. However, as even its detractors admitted, the system was successful for a great many alcoholics. This success was due as much to the spontaneous actions of its overwhelmingly male adherents as to the mysterious remedy that contained little, if any, bi-chloride of gold. The socio-emotional satisfaction of mutual support, non-judgmental attitudes, and recapture of lost dignity, which foreshadowed the goals of Alcoholics Anonymous, may have been the true Gold in the Cure.