Category: Paging Dr Quackery

The Doerflinger Artificial Limb Co. Ephemera

Just two sheets left on this vintage notepad from The Doerflinger Artificial Limb Co. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, purveyors of limbs, braces, trusses, belts, crutches, wheel chairs, elastic stockings — and, one presumes, “etc.”.

Since Doerflinger’s sold (and owned patents for) artificial limbs and other medical devices since just after the Civil War — no doubt influenced by young Charles H. Doerflinger‘s wounds in the war.

No date; based on address and phone number, I’d say this ephemera is circa 1940s.

Gernsback’s ADD & ADHD Treatment

The Isolator by Hugo Gernsback, as it appeared on the cover of, and the pages in between, the July 1925 issue of Science and Invention.

While Attention Deficit Order, with or without hyperactivity, isn’t mentioned (it didn’t exist as a diagnosis back then), The Isolator was designed to help focus the mind, particularly when reading and writing (literacy is hard work!). The helmet not only eliminated all outside noise, limited sight to just one line of text at a time, but it also pumped in oxygen. From the looks of it, the contraption would also assist in limiting hyperactivity by limiting movement, or, between weight and limited visibility, it would at least slow you down.

Via A Great Disorder and 50 Watts. At Boing Boing, Mark captions the mag cover “Portrait of a Blogger in the 1920s.”

The World’s First Atomic Refuge

According to this vintage brochure for Meramec Caverns, the caverns had geological formations which would “give the greatest protection against atomic shock and radiation. A modern Noah’s Ark is anticipated.”

Tokyo Milk Phrenology Soap — This Is Not Word Salad!

“There is too such a thing as Tokyo Milk Phrenology Soap,” she said, stamping her foot for emphasis.

I’m not sure why there is… But there is.

Apparently the only thing phrenological is the wrapper; but who knows, maybe the soap gets lumpy, providing the tactile pleasure of a judgmental pseudo-science with the scented hipster cleanliness that’s next to Godliness.

Before Organ Sales, Your Body Had A Street Value Of 30 Cents

The following table shows the approximate composition and value of the chemicals in a body weighing about 150 pounds.

This was published in What Is My Physical Make-Up? by Rasmus Alsaker, M.D. (No. 3 ABC Series, published in the July, 1957, issue of Health Culture, The Family Health Magazine).

Dr. Alsaker says this “ultra-scientific” quote comes from “what Professor R.L. Greene of the College of Science, University of Notre Dame wrote years ago.” So I’m not sure that the 30 cent street value was accurate even in 1957. But obviously organ harvesting renders our meat more valuable than our chemical content.