How far would you go to maintain or especially, restore good health? Pretty big distance, right? The road to health used to be even longer before the FDA and other groups stopped the manufacturer and sale and use of so many helpful devices and products.
Two come to mind: the first being radioactive water.
Yep, water laced with Radium and other radioactive materials to 'cure what ailed you'. And you can be sure it was safe, what with the triple distilled water and all. If you are not convinced, just look at the case of Mr. Ebenezer McBurney Byers; Mr. Byers was a athlete and when he fell out of a sleeping car berth and injured his arm, his doctor suggested he take Radithor, a product readily available. Well, Mr. Byers arm healed, proof that the Radithor was good stuff, so he continuted to consume it.... 1,400 bottles in all. This started in 1927, and by the time Mr. Byers stopped taking this magical stuff in 1930, he had accumulated enough Radium in his bones that his jaw had to be removed, his brain was absessed adn there where holes formed in his skull. When Mr. Byers died in 1932, it was attributed to 'radiation poisoning' but that was NOT the cause, various cancers were. See, I told you it was good stuff! He was buried in a lead- lined coffin and when exhumed in 1965 for further stury, his remains were found to be highly radioactive. Ah, the gift that keeps on giving. A WSJ article about this was titled "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off".
Another rather slick device was the ole' Pedoscope.
This gem was basically a wooden box where a customer and a fitter would observe where the customers toes were w/in a set of shoes he / she was trying on. I mean when you try on shoes, do you really know where the toes end? Well with a Pedoscope shows this clearly by blasting X-rays through the customer's feet onto viewing glass (and all through the customer, the salesperson, any other shoppers, the shoe store and surrounding area), the customer would wiggle his / her toes and Viola! you knew exactly how the shoes fit. Good stuff! They came into use around 1920 but the FDA banned them in 1953. Doom-criers- there is not a single documented case of ANY harm coming to anyone from one of these things..... although there was a significant elevation of certain cancers noted in shoe store employees; I for one am willing to write that off to the poor auto seats used in those days.
So many good ideas sadly no longer available.
Brian
P.S. there are a very few Pedoscopes on display in museums but unfortunately they have all had their radiation sources removed. Further, it took years to de- contaminate them sufficiently to all unprotected persons anywhere near them.