Before cocaine became a scourge of after school specials and 80’s wall street brokers. It was a socially accepted way to add a little extra jet fuel to your daily activities. There were a lot of products containing the stimulant made from coca leaves, it was found in tonics, sodas and even baby formulas.
It was also found in wine, one wine in particular that was popular at that time was Vin Mariani. It was no ordinary wine; it had been endorsed by two popes. It was the brainchild of the French chemist and wine maker Angelo Mariani.
He was ahead of his time as he would send cases of the wine to celebrities of the time. In return he would request only notes of expressing their thoughts on the product and an autographed picture. In years to come he published these celebrity endorsements in a series of albums called Portraits from Album Mariani (https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k299357b.image). Featuring some of the most prominent figures of the era. People like the Pope Leo XIII, Thomas Edison, Jules Verne, Ulysses S.Grant among others.
This ushered in what we in the 21st century know as influencer marketing. The only difference is that the people in the 1800’s were actually consumers of the products, it was not just about putting money in their pockets.