{"id":7582,"date":"2015-10-09T11:00:35","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T15:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=7582"},"modified":"2024-09-05T09:22:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T13:22:36","slug":"radams-microbe-killer-advertising-cures-for-tuberculosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2015\/10\/09\/radams-microbe-killer-advertising-cures-for-tuberculosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer: Advertising Cures for Tuberculosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In nineteenth century America, tuberculosis accounted for nearly one out of every ten deaths. Known most commonly as \u201cconsumption,\u201d this disease was dreaded across society because it affected all age groups, cut across social and class lines, was incurable, and often resulted in long debilitating illnesses. To explore the social effects of tuberculosis, a group of Virginia Tech undergraduates spent the spring 2015 semester exploring \u201cThat Dread Disease,\u201d using newspaper obituaries to document the lives lost to this disease. In this final of three posts, <\/em>Circulating Now welcomes guest bloggers Grace Hemmingson, Scottie Lynch, Nancy Fowlkes Mason, and E. Thomas Ewing, who look at the cultural implications of advertising cures.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Cover illustration for Radam, Microbes and the Microbe Killer<\/a><\/em>, 1890
National Library of Medicine<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his book, Microbes and the Microbe Killer<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> William Radam made the \u201csimple\u201d statement that all diseases have a single origin: \u201cThere is, in truth, but one disease.\u201d Based on this assumption, Radam marketed a single product, the Microbe Killer, which he claimed could cure every disease. Drawing on a combination of personal narrative, pseudo-scientific jargon, and emotional appeals, Radam used his book to market a product that cost virtually nothing to produce yet yielded significant profits. The logo for Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer, which decorated the cover of his most famous book, would have been familiar to American newspaper readers of the late nineteenth century. In the Virginia newspaper, Roanoke Times,<\/em> for example, the words \u201cmicrobe\u201d and \u201cRadam\u201d appear on more than 200 pages in two years, 1890-1891, or approximately once every three days. These ads appeared with banner headlines proclaiming: \u201cThe Greatest Disease of the Age. All Diseases caused by Microbes!<\/a>\u201d, \u201cLife Without Health is a Burden<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cNothing Succeeds Like Success<\/a>.\u201d Advertisements by the local agent in Roanoke included testimonials from local people who had \u201cexperienced great relief<\/a>\u201d and looked forward to regaining their health after taking Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer.<\/p>\n

The story behind this widespread advertising is reflective of both the direct experience and the cultural significance of tuberculosis in late nineteenth century America. As told by the author in his book, The Microbe Killer, <\/em>Radam, as a sufferer of tuberculosis himself, grew disillusioned with the false promises of doctors and advertisements alike. By observing the contents of his stomach, he determined that there was only one type of microbe which caused all diseases. He became obsessed with finding a way to kill the microbes. To this end, he developed a product that he called the \u201cMicrobe Killer,\u201d which he believed had cured him and would cure anyone who used it.<\/p>\n

The advertising and marketing campaigns for Microbe Killer were successful because they appealed to a widespread fear of consumption. Radam created a sense of urgency by stating the dangerous microbe that caused all diseases was in everything that a person ate, drank, or breathed. He appealed broadly to the public by saying his cure was for everyone with consumption, including pregnant women and babies, as well as those sick with combinations of diseases. An advertising strategy based on personal experiences of sick patients was central to the commercial success of Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer. By providing victims\u2019 profiles with many symptoms, all of which could be cured, Radam positioned his product to provide the promise of a cure to almost anyone. Radam also provided a personal touch. Microbes and the Microbe Killer<\/em> included pictures of Radam before and after he was \u201ccured\u201d by the Microbe Killer. The inclusion of these pictures emphasized Radam\u2019s personality because it showed people that he had dealt with the same illnesses and fear they had. Not only was he a patient like they were, but as a cure developer he was special\u2014even though he admitted to have had no medical training (and was actually a botanist and gardener by trade). For members of the public who also may have taken cures recommended by professionals and not seen any improvement, Radam\u2019s natural cure might have seemed hopeful and even miraculous.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
Radam \u201cbefore\u201d photograph, from Microbes and the Microbe Killer <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Radam \u201cafter\u201d photograph, from Microbes and the Microbe Killer <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In the historical context in which Radam advertised his product, however, the growing public interest in microbes as the cause of disease allowed his claims about causes and cures to appear consistent with scientific advances. Radam offered the best of both worlds to consumers appearing as both \u201cone of them\u201d and also as a sort of expert due to his usage of scientific language and scientific methods. Radam freely made use of terms like \u201cgerms,\u201d \u201cbacteria,\u201d and \u201cmicrobe,\u201d giving the impression that he was qualified to develop a cure. In fact, one of the advertisements that appeared in many newspapers featured a drawing of a magnifying glass<\/a>, with a caption that made these connections clear to the reader: \u201cSee the microbes? They are in the air, in the water, in your blood and system. They are the real cause of disease. Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer routs every germ of disease, purifies the blood, renovates the system, promotes good health at once.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Advertisement<\/a> in Roanoke Times<\/em>, March 28, 1894<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advertisements for Radam\u2019s microbe killer often appeared together with wire service reports and editorial commentaries revealing contemporary changes in the ways that experts and the public understood disease transmission and prevention. On December 24, 1890, for example, the Virginia newspaper, the Staunton Spectator<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>featured a front page report praising Dr. Koch as \u201ca most attractive and popular figure\u201d and declaring, \u201cAll the world now reads, talks, and thinks of Dr. Koch.\u201d This article then provided a summary of Koch\u2019s career culminating in his discovery of \u201cthe minute germ\u201d that caused tuberculosis. On the very same page of the Staunton Spectator, <\/em>several columns to the left, an ad for Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer made claims that were far more exaggerated, but shared certain underlying features with this celebration of Koch\u2019s science. Proclaiming Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer as \u201cthe greatest discovery of the age,\u201d the ad declared that the cure was \u201cprepared on scientific principles,\u201d starting \u201cat the root of all diseases,\u201d all of which could be cured \u201cby removing the cause of the disease.\u201d After listing a series of diseases, including catarrh, consumption, rheumatism, \u201cany disease that causes you anxiety or inconvenience,\u201d and \u201cany disease that your doctor has pronounced incurable,\u201d the solution was the same: \u201cGive the Microbe Killer a Trial.\u201d The ad then made remarkable claims that hundreds of people \u201cin this city\u201d have used this medicine that produced miracle cures, while many thousands have been cured \u201cwho have been pronounced incurable.\u201d The ad then identified N. Wayt & Bro. as the sole agent for the Microbe Killer in Staunton. Yet the most striking element of this ad was the graphic, the same as appeared on the bottle, of a man with a club about to hit the grim reaper while pieces of a broken scythe lay around the skeleton\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n

The juxtaposition in newspapers of reports about medical discoveries and advertisements for medical cures such as Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer is revealing of the tension between expert, popular, and commercial discourse in this context. In a similar manner, three weeks earlier, the Staunton Spectator<\/em><\/a> published a brief report on Koch receiving the red eagle decoration from the Emperor in honor of his discovery. This page also had an advertisement for Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer in the top left corner, with the same text as the ad cited above. Yet the more subtle form of advertising came in the form of three testimonials, which appeared in close proximity to the article about Koch, each praising the value of this treatment. Algie A. Hodge in Columbia, Tennessee, declared that Microbe Killer cured her servant\u2019s dropsy, from which she had suffered for thirty-five years, while another letter came from Mrs. D. T. McGhee in Hinsleytown, Kentucky, who consumed three gallons of Microbe Killer in order to finally obtain relief from his lifetime affliction with dyspepsia. Finally, A. P. Mathews from Nashville, Tennessee declared that five months of treatment with the Microbe Killer made \u201centirely relieved\u201d of his fifteen year spell of dyspepsia.<\/p>\n

In the end, Radam\u2019s extraordinary success in marketing this product not only made him rich\u2014it also made his product an early target<\/a> of efforts to monitor food and drugs<\/a>. In April 1910 twelve cases of Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer were seized, on the grounds of \u201cfalse, exaggerated, and misleading<\/a>\u201d labels, and the contents were destroyed. Four years later, in July 1914, and following amendments in the Food and Drugs Act<\/a> in 1912, a shipment of Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer was seized by government agencies. After a hearing by a jury, more than 800 cartons and boxes of the Microbe Killer were destroyed<\/a>. Yet advertisements for Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer appeared even as these goods were being seized. On October 3, 1919, the Seattle Star<\/em><\/a> published an advertisement from Bartell Drug Stores, which offered a No. 2 bottle of Radam\u2019s Microbe Killer, regularly $1.00, now on sale for 83 cents.<\/p>\n

In these posts Virginia Tech students, working under the direction of Professor Tom Ewing, explore themes related to tuberculosis, including reporting on medical discoveries, the cultural implications of advertising cures, and techniques for measuring the impact of this disease. <\/em>By studying these patterns in the past, historians of medicine can contribute to contemporary and future responses to infectious diseases. This research made extensive use of the digitized collections of the National Library of Medicine as well as Medical Heritage Library in the form of national and Virginia medical journals, photographs and other images, and published books. <\/em>More information about the project, including an online presentation documenting Virginia lives lost to tuberculosis, is available from the project site: http:\/\/ethomasewing.org\/tbhistory\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Grace Hemmingson is a History and English major at Virginia Tech.<\/em><\/p>\n

Scottie Lynch is a History major at Virginia Tech.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nancy Fowlkes Mason is a History major from Virginia Tech.<\/em><\/p>\n

E. Thomas Ewing is Professor of History and Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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