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Month: December 2013

ADvent Calendar 1: The Health Jolting Chair

  Every day until Christmas, The Quack Doctor will be showing a different historical health-related advertisement. First is this brain-refresher and household blessing – the Health Jolting Chair (1885), courtesy of the US National Library of Medicine. . .

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Historical health fraud, patent remedies and the strange medical cases of the past.

In 1903, Miss Leoti Blaker was on crowded public t In 1903, Miss Leoti Blaker was on crowded public transport in New York City when a man started making advances towards her.

‘At last I reached up and took a hatpin from my hat,’ she later told the newspaper, ‘I slid it around so that I could give him a good dig, and ran that hatpin into him with all the force I possessed. Of course, all the time I was looking calmly in front of me, so that when he let out a terrible scream of pain no one in the coach had any idea what had happened.’

My new article looks at the trend for hat pins as weapons in the early 20th century. Read or listen at 🔗thequackdoctor.substack.com (link in bio)

#1900s #edwardianfashion #womenshistory #oldnewspaper #selfdefence #hatpins
Without much in the way of public lavatories - esp Without much in the way of public lavatories - especially for women - Victorian railway travellers could resort to a wearable rubber urinal like the one in this 1863 advert from F. Walters of Moorgate Street. 

There were different designs to fit males and females and they were also used for patients confined to bed or recovering from surgery. Keeping them clean could be tricky and one surgeon referred to them as ‘those putrid urine-bags’.

Find out more in my new article at 🔗thequackdoctor.substack.com (link in bio).

#victorianera #1860s #railwayhistory #histmed #vintageadvertising
Dr Thomas' Eclectric Oil, originating in Buffalo, Dr Thomas' Eclectric Oil, originating in Buffalo, NY, in the 1840s and popular well into the 20th century, was a camphor and turpentine preparation for rubbing onto aching joints or taking internally for coughs and colds. Its unusual name refers to eclectic medicine and electricity - both fashionable and scientific-sounding words at the time.

Although it was 'equally good for man and beast', the cute cats aren't just potential patients - trade cards like this were designed to give people something nice to collect and keep. In communities where pictures and other media were scarce, these free cards were worth hanging on to - and meant the advertiser kept his name in front of his audience. The other side would promote the medicine's qualities and advise where you could buy it.

#historyofmedicine #patentmedicine #histmed #ephemera #cats_of_instagram #catsofinstagram #cat #19thcentury #1880s #vintageadvertising
The first UK Dentists Register, published in 1879, The first UK Dentists Register, published in 1879, included the names of more than 20 women. I have written about a few of them (and some earlier female dentists) in my new article at thequackdoctor.substack.com - link in bio🔗.

#dentistry #dentalhistory #womenshistory #womenshistorymonth #victorian #1870s #substackwriter
In 1866, a 'herbalist and medical doctor' visited In 1866, a 'herbalist and medical doctor' visited the village of Fron in Radnorshire and gave out handbills with the reassuring proclamation: 'Take note, Dr Harris is no quack.'

Those who consulted him were told that their illnesses resulted from witchcraft, and if they did not pay their bills, Dr Harris would quite literally see them in Hell.

Read more at thequackdoctor.substack.com (link in bio).

#histmed #historyofmedicine #1860s #welshhistory #hanescymru #witchcraft #quackery
Happy Valentine’s Day from this 1940s squirrel! Happy Valentine’s Day from this 1940s squirrel!

#valentinesday #squirrel #1940s #ephemera
These fragments of wood and metal were removed fro These fragments of wood and metal were removed from the stomach of a deceased patient at Guy's Hospital in 1809.

The man, an American sailor called John Cummings, had swallowed pocket knives on various occasions over the previous decade - usually when showing off to friends under the influence of drink.

The knives accumulated in his stomach and intestines, eventually proving fatal. Some of the pieces are still held at the Gordon Museum of Pathology, King's College London.

Read more in my new article at thequackdoctor.substack.com (link in bio).

#historyofmedicine #histmed #curiosities #1800s #guyshospital
Figuroids, introduced in 1907, claimed to reduce w Figuroids, introduced in 1907, claimed to reduce weight through a vaguely described scientific process that helped the body metabolise fat away.

Funnily enough, they didn’t work - and some of their marketing messages remain familiar today. 

Read more at 🔗thequackdoctor.substack.com 

#patentremedies #histmed #edwardian #edwardianlondon #weightloss #1900s #vintageadvertising #historyofmedicine
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