Natural body brace

"Worth more than a farm" says a customer of this ancient-looking device.

Be warned that any medical breakthrough that "Replaces and supports misplaced internal organs", "brings pep" and "reduces enlarged abdomen" -all at at the same time- cannot be good for you.

"Body brace", 1917
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Electric health

"Electric Health", 1924
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A bigger version of the "Violet Ray machine", the "Elco Health Generator" has the added benefits of ozone generation and "mechanical vibration".

It claims to be useful to cure conditions so severe as "Deafness", "Pain" and "Obesity" - now, how it works to help restore hearing or to help lose weight, is not explained in the ad and the reader has to get the free booklet to find out more about this miraculous machine.

Stretch out

How about gaining a few extra inches in height?

This medieval-looking gadget promises to "remake and rejuvenate" your body, improve your circulation, and give you a "normal spine".

And it's the "most important health invention of the century". Unbelievable!

"Your spine", 1917
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Magnetic sharpener

This has to be near the top of the list of loonie claims of the Twentieth Century.

"Harnessing Magnetic Energy" to sharpen a knife -or a razor blade like in this ad- by re-aligning the steel molecules at the edge. This ad just ticks all the right boxes: big words, dubious claims, a quasi-magical product with no competition and the promise of lots and lots of money.

"The most efficient shaving aid ever invented" seems to be just another direct sale scam. But the 1930's art is pretty sharp. Pun intended.

"Sharpen razor blades", 1931
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Curative smoke

Tobacco smoking and war are a marriage made in heaven.

This ad announces that smoking is at an all time high -which seems very likely in the war-time economy of 1943.

But the red text with the wording "And you are safer smoking..." is totally misleading. Major weasel-wording here. Even with the disclaimer at the bottom, the casual reader thinks this is actually good for you.

"Smoking more", 1943
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Mind your posture

With thousands of remarkable cases, the Philo-Burt Appliance has healing properties that border on the miraculous.

Fifty thousand cases treated over twenty years -that's a mere seven cures a day. Helpless people, crippled by their "deformed spines" have seen themselves riding horseback or playing tennis, within a year.

The address of the firm, at "Odd Fellows Temple" is not that inspiring either.

"Deformities of the back", 1924
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No more bald heads

More remedies for men worried about their thinning mane - and again this one uses a vacuum cap. Can't really tell from the ad if this is a nice latex-like swimming cap or a more rigid and uncomfortable contraption. Like a helmet.

But rejoice: the ad boldly states that this "is the only reasonable HAIR GROWER known to science". Wtf?

Total and absolute quackery in its purest form.

"No more bald heads", 1924
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No joke to be bald

Losing your hair is not funny - particularly when the before treatment and after treatment pictures do not belong to the same individual. 

These two blokes could be close family, but they are definitely not the same person.

"No joke to be bald", 1930
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The next piece is a fascinating reminder that technology and vanity were cuddly to each other seventy years ago. Just like today.

Instead of the laser powered light of the 21st Century, back then you had alternating pressure and vaccum treatment. WTF?

You could even get a treatment at the barber's for your balding head. Ironic.

"X-ER-VAC", 1937
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No effort at all

"Waistline reducer", 1924
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Some ads are way ahead of their time.

Take this Automatic Waistline Reducer for instance. It could be the main star of a late-night TV advertorial hosted by a lesser-known, evil-twin of a reality-show débutante.

The same empty promises and dubious facts that grace your LCD-screen TV were already there in 1924: Rid yourself of the paunch. Check. Flabby flesh will vanish. Check. Absolutely automatic. Check.

There's no mention at all about keeping a good diet and doing exercise. The Waistline Reducer works almost by magic.

Think about it the next time you do some late-night TV shopping. It's all magic.

Be fair to your hair

According to this piece, you get dandruff if your scalp is not fully awake.

"Wake up", 1946
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Fun. Restful. Etcetera. It's just a coincidence that 65 years later similar quacks are advertised in late-night TV. Some things never change.

The Violet Ray is coming to you

Behold! For one dollar. The Violet Ray.

What? You've never heard of The Violet Ray? You kiddin' me?

The universal miracle cure for whooping cough, eye diseases, insomnia, lumbago and many, many more ailments of our modern way of life?

"Violet Ray", 1924
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The advertising industry in the interwar years had a tremendous role in the reach and popularity of all sorts of treatments, preparations and patented devices that belong to the realm of pseudomedicine and quackery. Probably the growing economy and the scientific advances of the time led many people to believe that anything that came out of a laboratory was good.

Some, like our Violet Ray here, have morphed into toys for Bondage and Submission, whilst others -like the toiletries with radioactive components, are outright dangeous and disappeared altogether after World War II.

Constipation kills

No shit kills. Serious.

"Constipation", 1924
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Love that ending - "BLAME YOURSELF if this message does not bring you Strength, Health and Happiness".

What a beautiful nose

Before plastic surgery, people used all kinds of wacky and painful treatments to get rid of their flaws. A big proportion of these were just scams and outright quacks.

"Your nose beautified", 1930
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And in the spirit of correctness and equality, we also found the male version of this contraption.

"A better looking nose", 1930
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Just think of their antics trying to take off the harnesses before a passionate kiss!

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"Bow legs", 1930
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Bow legs? Don't treat them. Just create the illusion that your legs are straight.