Cocaine: a Victorian sensation

Douglas Small reveals how cocaine was widely used in all manner of 19th-century products, and explores why it became a fixture of society, sport, culture and literature

Published: October 28, 2024 at 7:00 AM

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In a much-publicised race in the 1870s, the most celebrated athlete of his day, the long-distance pedestrian Edward P Weston, admitted that he had chewed coca leaves, sparking a frenzy of interest in the substance and its derivative, cocaine. For the next few decades, cocaine became a household ingredient in many products, and was perfectly legal. It wasn't until the early years of the 20th century that concerns began to be voiced about its dangerous addictiveness. Dr Douglas Small explains how cocaine won over the Victorians in this conversation with David Musgrove.

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(Ad) Douglas Small is the author of Cocaine, Literature, and Culture, 1876-1930 (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024).

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Here, Mike Jay reveals how scientists and thinkers experimented with drugs in the 19th century

Authors

Dr David Musgrove, FSAContent director

David Musgrove is the content director at HistoryExtra

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