Quackery – IOTW Report

Quackery

Monday, 26 November 2018, 16:58 BFH Uncategorized 21

HistoryDaily-

Would you believe that self-retaining rectal dilators were sold as a cure for insanity and chronic constipation from the end of the 1800s through the 1940s? Although the label says Dr. Young’s Ideal Rectal Dilators should only be administered by a medical professional, there was an outcry from concerned people, both in and out of the medical field, that the hard rubber ½ inch to 1 inch round dilators could be misused as a deviant sex toy. In 1940, the U.S. Attorney’s office seized a shipment of the rectal dilators and accused the company of misleading labeling because the label claims the product cured acne, anemia, bad breathe, hemorrhoids, flatulence, nervousness, headaches, and insomnia.

During the 1940s and 1950s, cod liver oil was routinely given to school children at school but that practice ended with too many parents questions the rights of the schools and governments to administer mass medications to students without parental approval. Besides, people began to question the effectiveness of cod liver oil any way. But recent studies have proven that fish oil is beneficial. The amino acids help in brain development and aid the body in fighting off disease.

So what’s the quackery part?

The nurse is administering the oil to all the students with the SAME SPOON! -bfh

This seems counter-productive, but long before the surgeon general warnings about the dangers of tobacco used began appearing on the labels of cigarettes, most people believed that cigarettes posed not dangerous side effects or health concerns. In fact, smoking was touted as a great way to relax and distress by many medical professionals. So many it isn’t so odd to see a hospital patient buying a pack of cigarettes from his hospital bed in the 1950s. And you know he will smoke that pack right there in his hospital bed.

21 Comments on Quackery

  6. I remember my dear mother putting cod liver oil in our mashed potatoes. Jesus Christ!. But she only did it once. I’d take a spoon full a day and wash it down with a spoon of sugar. I lived.

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  10. When we were sick, my Dad would make us eat a spoonful of Vicks Vaporub like his Mom did him….Then we learned to read and it said “DO NOT TAKE INTERNALLY”…..Dad was pissed off that we could read……

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  14. At an auction, we found just about the same exact box of dialators. It was intact and complete with instructions and the dialators themselves.

    We made fun of them for a bit, then ran an Ebay query. Similar sets sell for upwards of $50.

    Similarly, we found the violet ray quackery sets sell very well on Ebay.

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  17. I love quack Medicine…20 Years ago I was auguring 24″ Holes

    for new Palm Trees on Fleming Street (Flaming Street) in Key West

    and all of these Bottles came up unharmed……

    “Bumstead’s Worm Syrup” and subtitled

    “Adults like it, Children cry for it”

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  18. willysgoatgruff November 26, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    Monkey Wards…yep that’s what a lot of older folks called it.

    A vision I have from 40-50 years ago…an old guy hitches up his britches and says: Well, Old Gal…I reckon I’ll hafta go down to Monkey Wards an’ buy me a new wrench…if ya want the terlet fixed”.

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