There was a time when radioactivity was considered the latest trend. A marvel of science to which almost supernatural powers were attributed, and it served for practically everything, from whitening your teeth in toothpaste form to making the hands of the clocks shine at night.
Among facial creams and make-up, radiation was capable of everything and more, from eliminating wrinkles to becoming a sort of elixir of eternal youth. It was precisely the latter, an energy drink worthy of Fallout called Radithor, that uncovered its dangerous consequences.
Radiation, the latest trend
After the discovery of X-rays and the radiation from certain minerals, Marie Curie chose to research radioactivity as the main topic of her doctoral thesis. The idea that certain materials could produce radiation, even without an external source of energy motivating it, soon became fascinating to the scientific community.
Her discovery of radium and polonium, named after her native Poland, as well as the isolation of radioactive elements in pure concentrations, earned her the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry, giving Marie Curie the starting signal for the atomic structure fever. And before anyone stopped to analyze what happened after prolonged exposure to those new discoveries, another science, that of making money hand over fist thanks to advertising, seized the phenomenon without hesitation.
Between the 20s and 30s, radioactive cigarettes were sold that cured asthma and nasal congestion, radioactive chocolate that increased energy to turn you into a bull both at work and in bed, and even spas were created where the mix of water and radiation was sold as the perfect cure for arthritis or rheumatism.
However, the most famous of all those products was Radithor. With a mixture of distilled water and dissolved radium, that drink was advertised as a cure for the living dead. Created by the doctor J. A. Bailey, who never actually finished his career, Radithor gained the trust of a certain part of the medical community by offering one-sixth of the profits for each prescribed dose. With each little bottle selling for about a dollar, which in today’s exchange rate and inflation would be around 15 euros, that radiation juice was sold like candy.
An energy drink for 15 euros a bottle
Most of Radithor’s success in the era was owed, as it also happens today, to how the product gained the trust of certain elites who helped sell it as the invention of the century. Of all of them, the most famous was the case of the golfer Eben Byers, who admitted to having consumed up to 1,400 bottles that had changed his life. He didn’t imagine how much it would.
Still a young rising star, the classic charismatic womanizer who earned people’s favor for coming from an influential family, Byers suffered an accident by falling from a train bed and breaking his arm. To avoid the pain and give him even more energy both on the track and in the bedroom, the doctor recommended him to take Radithor.
For mere placebo, or simply for following the usual course of a similar ailment, Byers’ pain disappeared and he attributed it to Radithor, thus becoming the main ambassador of the drink. Several years later, what were all joys began to turn into severe headaches, weight loss, tooth loss, and a general discomfort that would end up crushing his bones.
Back in 1931, the scientific and medical community began to realize that maybe radiation had been a terrible idea, and to prove their suspicions they invited Byers to testify against Radithor. The reality was that, by then, the firm defender of the drink had already lost part of his jaw and had his skull perforated due to radiation, making it impossible for him to attend the trial.
At 51 years old, radiation put an end to his life and authorities had to bury him in a lead coffin to prevent him from becoming a greater evil. That sad ending pushed medicine to fight against radioactive products and, ultimately, closed one of the darkest chapters in advertising history.
Image | Sam LaRussa, Suit
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