1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,319 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Crazy v. Wilson. This is part two 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: of a two parter, and this is an instance where 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 1: you really do have to listen to the first part 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: before you jump into this one, or it's not going 7 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: to make any sense, because we are picking up right 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: in the middle of the fraud case against E. Virgil 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: Neil's company, Force of Life, for the completely bogused treatments 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: that it advertised and sent consumers through the mail. We 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: are also in this episode going to get to the 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: company that finally shifted Neil into a position as a 13 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: head of a pretty respected business in the beauty industry, 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: although it too had some roots in its old Charlatan 15 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: ways in its beginnings. So we left off in part 16 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: one as the news was breaking. The investigators on a 17 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: joint task force headed up by the Postmaster General had 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: been digging into Neil's business dealings for about a year 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,960 Speaker 1: to put together a case against Force of Life, and 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: that is where we are picking up. So the investigation 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: into Force of Life quickly revealed that not only Neil 22 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: and his immediate associates, but also a number of prominent 23 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: men were all part of this company. A lot of 24 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: them were high ranking officers at one or more banks. 25 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: Others had invested heavily in a company called New York 26 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: Food and Chemical Company, which was a wholesaler that Force 27 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:44,319 Speaker 1: of Life purchased medications from. But the biggest scandal was 28 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: that the company was tied to General James R. Oburn, 29 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: sometimes reported incorrectly as John R. Oburn. James Rowan Oburn 30 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: was born in Ireland on September twenty fifth, eighteen thirty nine. 31 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,559 Speaker 1: Moved to the US before he turned one to escape 32 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: the Great Hunger, and Obern grew up entirely in the US. 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: He attended Fordham University, was valedictorian of his graduating class, 34 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: became a lawyer before enlisting at the start of the 35 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,799 Speaker 1: American Civil War. He was part of this thirty seventh 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: New York Regiment, which was known colloquially as the Irish Rifles. 37 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: He was a decorated soldier. He earned a Medal of 38 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: Honor after being wounded in battle. He suffered three bullet wounds, 39 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: one through the lung. He was discharged and became the 40 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: Provost Marshal of Washington, d C. He very famously was 41 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,080 Speaker 1: part of the manhunt that ended in John Wilkes Booth 42 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: capture after President Abraham Lincoln was shot, and then he 43 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: guarded the president's deathbed. He held a number of posts 44 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: in Washington, D C. After the Civil War ended, and 45 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: eventually moved back to New York City. And this man 46 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: frequently referred to as a hero, understandably based on all 47 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: that stuff I've just read, apparently ended up tangled with E. 48 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil o'burne was listed as the president of Force 49 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: of Life, and The New York Times, like other papers, 50 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: followed this entire case closely. By January seventeenth of nineteen 51 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: oh six, the paper was reporting that the company's offices 52 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,239 Speaker 1: were being dismantled, and according to the Times, quote E. 53 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil, the originator and first president of the Force 54 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: of Life Chemical Company, for whom Post Office inspectors armed 55 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: with warrants have been searching several days in this city, 56 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: Washington and Syracuse, is still at large. Neil is charged 57 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: with conspiracy to defraud by use of the United States mails, 58 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: jointly with doctor William Wallace Hadley, Chief medical director, Missus 59 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: Laura M. Wilson, consulting medical director, and Arthur H. Williams, 60 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: Treasurer of the Force of Life concern. These three Force 61 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: of Lifers have already been arrested and are now out 62 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: on two five hundred dollars bail each. That write up 63 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: also noted that O'Byrne had made a statement through his 64 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: attorney that he had no part in the company's day 65 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: to day management. Another article appearing in an Illinois paper 66 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,359 Speaker 1: noted quote General O'Byrne was seen following the arrests, but 67 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: his counsel refused to allow him to be interviewed. If 68 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: it sounds like a lot had happened in the lead 69 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: up to this story breaking publicly, that's because it had. 70 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: The investigation, complete with those ongoing back and forth correspondences 71 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: between the Force of Life company and federal agents posing 72 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: as customers, which we talked about in some detail in 73 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: Part one, had been quietly playing out for a full 74 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: year before any warrants were issued or arrests were made, 75 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: And as the investigation was made public, it was revealed 76 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,559 Speaker 1: that the whole thing had been a joint effort after 77 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: Roosevelt had gotten the US Post Office in involved. Assistant 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 1: US District Attorney Clarence Houghton was also brought on, as 79 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: well as two men who served as council for the 80 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: New York County Medical Society, Champ S Andrews and john S. Cooper. 81 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,039 Speaker 1: As investigators were working on collecting evidence the legal team 82 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: was building their case. One of the documents that came 83 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: to light in the investigation was a letter written by 84 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: doctor Hadley's colleague Laura M. Wilson to E. Virgil Neil. 85 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: It hinted that o'burne may have been either suspecting something 86 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: was going on at Force of Life or just really 87 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: wanted to be on top of the company's business activities, 88 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: and that Wilson and Neil were trying to figure out 89 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 1: how to keep some aspects of the business away from 90 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:50,279 Speaker 1: him by preventing the company's secretary from taking down everything 91 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: that was said in a meeting. That letter was printed 92 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: in part in The New York Times and it read quote, 93 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: you do not state why General o'burn wanted you to 94 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: take them of the meeting. I do not believe he 95 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: realizes fully what you have to do. I hope you 96 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: will read my letters to the committee. Miss Nykirk is 97 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: trusted with a good many confidential things. It seems to 98 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: me she might be safely trusted to do this. Should anything, 99 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: if any private nature come up, she could be excused 100 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: from the room. And you can take this part of 101 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: the report and mail it as a supplementary report. But 102 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: if miss Nykirk cannot be trusted to take work of 103 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: this kind, it will be necessary to get someone who 104 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: can be trusted, because even if you had time, there 105 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: are too many things of greater importance that you should do. Yeah, basically, 106 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: like just tell the secretary of leaves her room. Sometimes 107 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: it's fine. She just won't take that down and he'll 108 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: never know. He doesn't need to know. So it does 109 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: seem like they were trading on o'burne's good name m 110 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: while they knew they were doing really nefarious stuff and 111 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: keeping him from knowing about the nefariousness. Yeah. What The 112 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: New York Times described as quote reams of lurid Force 113 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: of Life pamphlets, circulars, and correspondents had been turned over 114 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: or seized as those various members of the Force of 115 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: Life staff had been arrested, and it enabled investigators to 116 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,080 Speaker 1: piece together the way that the whole operation functioned. Some 117 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: of the pills the company provided, and I'm using the 118 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: word pills very loosely, as you'll see in a moment, 119 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: were touted in this seized material as life rate capsules, 120 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: and the literature claimed that they contained radium and suggested 121 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: that they could prolong human life to two hundred years. 122 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,800 Speaker 1: On the upside, they did not actually contain any radium 123 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: at all. They were found to have phosphorus in than 124 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: when they were tested. But these were also capsules that 125 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: you were not supposed to take orally. It was claimed 126 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: that they just gave off emanations of quote wonderful revitalizing 127 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: pawer that would cure disease and improve health. Customers were 128 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: sent these capsules for free on loan after signing a 129 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: pledge that they would return them once their treatment was complete. 130 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: Other courses of treatment laid out in correspondence with patient 131 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: customers ranged from folk remedies to the reading of poetry. 132 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: There was also among the acquired documents a letter from 133 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: a person who was very angry that they had not 134 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: been paid for the fictional testimonials they had provided force 135 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: of life, and it came to light that those many 136 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: blood samples that people sent them after they were requested. 137 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: Those had been going right in the trash, no one 138 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: analyzed them. The only scientific equipment found at the offices 139 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,800 Speaker 1: was a single microscope and a handful of test tubes. 140 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: Based on what I read, it didn't sound like those 141 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: had ever been in use. But all of this theater 142 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: was part of luring clients into the idea that they 143 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: were working with a benevolent company that truly wanted to 144 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: help them, and then once that trust was established with 145 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,280 Speaker 1: people who were gullible or desperate, it was really easy 146 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,599 Speaker 1: to transition to selling them treatments. E. Virgil Neil was 147 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:16,199 Speaker 1: also running a food manufacturing business at the same time 148 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: that Force of Life was operating. This one was called 149 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: Neil Biscuit Company, and it manufactured foods that were marketed 150 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: as digestion aids. This company didn't ever get rolled into 151 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: any of Neil's legal issues, though it did have ties 152 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: to the New York Food and Chemical Company, so that 153 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,839 Speaker 1: was there the same company that prominent New Yorkers had 154 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: invested in as the manufacturer of medications purchased for use 155 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: by Force of Life, So these things were kind of connected, 156 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: but no legal fallout from that one. No Uh, this 157 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 1: man was so good at shell companies and like obscuring 158 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,079 Speaker 1: the truth by having twenty two different legal entities sprouting 159 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: off of one another, none of which could be easily traced. 160 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: We'll talk more about that, But here's the thing in 161 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,719 Speaker 1: all of this. Everyone wanted to hear, of course, from E. 162 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil, but nobody could find him. A thorough search 163 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: of the company's Syracuse office, where he was rumored to 164 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 1: be hiding, turned up nothing. The janitor of the building 165 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: was questioned, and he told investigators that Neil had last 166 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: been there late Saturday afternoon, But that information was a 167 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: little problematic because it contradicted a statement that his mother 168 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: had made that he had left Syracuse for Manhattan on Friday, 169 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: the day before the janitor claims to have seen him last. 170 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:41,559 Speaker 1: No one seemed to know where he was, but there 171 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: were a lot of rumors circulating about it. Various accounts 172 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: placed him in hiding right there in Syracuse. Others said 173 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: that he was at a sanitarium because he was very 174 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: ill and getting treatment, and other accounts, including his mother's, 175 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: said that he had left the country entirely coming. We'll 176 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: talk about why federal authorities were so eager to pursue 177 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: the Force of Life case and how it played out. 178 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: But first we will pause for a sponsor break a 179 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,920 Speaker 1: lot of the fervor around Force of Life and the 180 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: official charges against its officers. That was conspiracy to obtain 181 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: money under false pretenses by the use of the United 182 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: States mail. Was fueled by the same concerns that led 183 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: to the creation of the first consumer protection law in 184 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: the United States, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 185 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: nineteen oh six. That piece of legislation, which was also 186 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: known as the Wily Act after the Chief Chemist at 187 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: the US Department of Agriculture, was for its own description, 188 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:55,320 Speaker 1: an Act for preventing the manufacture, sale, or transportation of 189 00:11:55,400 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: adulterated or misbranded or poisonous or deleterious foods, rugs, medicines, 190 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,319 Speaker 1: and liquors, and for regulation therein and for other purposes. 191 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: So this was obviously not an effort that sprung up 192 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: out of nowhere. According to the Food and Drug Administration, 193 00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: almost one hundred pieces of proposed legislation related to food 194 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: and drug regulation had been introduced into Congress between eighteen 195 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: seventy nine and the passing of the nineteen oh six 196 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: law in June that year. This was a time before 197 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: drugs had to be approved by the FDA to go 198 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,160 Speaker 1: to market, and patent medicines were common, and they were 199 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: often very dangerous, like if it was benign, but just 200 00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: got your money, that was the best possible outcome. A 201 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: lot of these had really really scary stuff in them. 202 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: Those life ray capsules had been a focus of concern 203 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: because of all of this. As this whole cause got underway, 204 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,600 Speaker 1: but the case against Force of Life sputtered. Among other things, 205 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: one official testified that he had learned that Neil had 206 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: been offered consultation from the brother of a Chicago Attorney 207 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: General that would ensure Force of Life's literature was written 208 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: and edited in a way that they would be able 209 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: to avoid mail fraud charges in return for money, of course, 210 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: and Neil apparently refused this deal. From there the case 211 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: really unraveled, and then it fell apart. The charges were 212 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: dismissed on April twenty fourth, nineteen oh four. There's an 213 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,560 Speaker 1: alternate version of this story, as told by the American 214 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: Medical Association in its nineteen fifteen publication Medical Mail Order Frauds. 215 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: That version states that quote when it was found that 216 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,839 Speaker 1: an influential New York politician General James R. O'burn was 217 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: president of it. The investigation ceased. The newspaper publicity, however, 218 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: killed the business, while the stories in the newspapers certainly 219 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: didn't help. Neil would later say that the legal costs 220 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:59,679 Speaker 1: of defending the company were what had wiped it out. 221 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,559 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil emerged from hiding after the case had ended, 222 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: and he did not publicly disclose where he had been. 223 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: At the end of April, the Syracuse Post Standard ran 224 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,679 Speaker 1: the story Neil returns for business. The article noted quote, 225 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: when asked last night as to his plans and in 226 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: regards to his whereabouts and doings for the past few months, 227 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 1: he answered absolutely nothing. To say. To every question, he 228 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: gave the same reply. This article also commented on the 229 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: rumors that Neil had been in a sanitarium for his 230 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: ill health, noting quote, Neil does not look as if 231 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: he had been ill. Now, obviously you cannot tell by 232 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: looking at a person if they are sick. That is 233 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: a huge issue in disability rights. But all of the 234 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: write ups about Neil during this time noted how very 235 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 1: healthy he looked and acted, pointing out that the rumor 236 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:54,400 Speaker 1: of illness seemed to have simply been a ruse of 237 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: some sort to help wiggle out of appearing in court. 238 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: He still had the Neil biscuit come and for a 239 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: brief period went back to his same old claims about 240 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: improving people's health with his products. He set up multiple 241 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: other business ventures that operated in similar ways to those 242 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: we've already discussed, advertising free services and then offering items 243 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: for sale, using the advertorial style of placement in newspapers 244 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: that made ads look like articles, and offering up testimonials 245 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: that weren't easily traced to actual clients. But these o 246 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: their ventures all struggled, and in nineteen oh seven, E 247 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: Virgil Neil declared bankruptcy. One aspect of Neil's life that 248 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,920 Speaker 1: is very, very fuzzy in all of these years around 249 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: the scandal is his marriage. His wife, Mollie, we mentioned 250 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: briefly in Part One, kind of vanishes from his story. 251 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: According to biographer Mary Schaeffer Conroy. She doesn't get mentioned 252 00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: in the public record again until her death in nineteen 253 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: four four, at which point she was living in Arizona 254 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: away from E. Virgil Neil. It is unclear if she 255 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: left when the Force of Life scandal and the hearing 256 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: were playing out, or if the couple had been estranged 257 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: in some way before that. There are even rumors and 258 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: speculation that he left her for another woman. She was 259 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: still listed as married to Neil in her obituary, but 260 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: it's unclear if there ever was a divorce, but in 261 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: any case, by then Neil had remarried twice. In fact, 262 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: there is so much hayes around Evirgil Neil's romantic partners 263 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: and marriages that it is almost impossible to put together 264 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: a clear picture. This is a problem that stems from 265 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: a couple of things. Right There is the fact that 266 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: Neil was a very messy man in a lot of ways, 267 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: and particularly in his relationships with women. He was involved 268 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: allegedly with a lot of women. The other problem is 269 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: that official accounts and records listing the women he was 270 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: seen with often just call them missus e. Virgil Neil, 271 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 1: rather than specifying their names. So aside from the fact 272 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,480 Speaker 1: that people who are married to other people are still 273 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: humans with their own names and should be recognized as such, 274 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: the historical record, like the practice of calling women missus 275 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,080 Speaker 1: their husband's name, makes things like this very very difficult 276 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: to figure out. Additionally, he also sometimes traveled with women 277 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,199 Speaker 1: from his family, like his mother and his sisters, so 278 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: it's unclear if the women that were sometimes with him, 279 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: which were sometimes called miss or missus Neil, were actually, 280 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: you know, benign relatives or actually paramours. Some versions of 281 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 1: his life list a woman named Emma as his first wife. 282 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: There was a woman named Emma with him at one 283 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: point on a ship manifest, but it is unclear who 284 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: that woman was to him. His first wife's name was Molly. 285 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: The nature of his relationships with the other women that 286 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,719 Speaker 1: he married also causes some confusion. His second wife, Harriet Metameister, 287 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: had been called his wife for quite a while before 288 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: they actually got legally married, and she seems to have 289 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: been in the picture with perhaps a little bit of 290 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: overlap with his first wife, Molly. Harriet and Neil were 291 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: consistently together by nineteen oh seven. So there's just so 292 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 1: much confusion to try to untangle here, and we will 293 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: get into his third wife later, which has its own 294 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: set of rumors. As we mentioned a moment ago, Neil 295 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,040 Speaker 1: started up a handful of ventures in the aftermath of 296 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: the Force of Life scandal, most of which came and 297 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: went at a pretty rapid pace, but one that he 298 00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: founded in nineteen oh seven after his bankruptcy actually had 299 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:49,119 Speaker 1: some lasting power, and that was tukulan manufacturing company. Like 300 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 1: many of his other businesses at that time, it started 301 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: in Syracuse and it would become a very lucrative international brand. 302 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:59,760 Speaker 1: We will talk a lot more about Tuklan after we 303 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 1: hear or from the sponsors that keep the show going. 304 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: One thing to note about e. Virgil Neil, and we've 305 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: alluded to it already, and it also would be obvious 306 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 1: even if we hadn't, was how adept he had become 307 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: at obfuscating the details of any given businesses ownership and 308 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,960 Speaker 1: leadership structure. He would register the addresses of businesses, sometimes 309 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 1: at his home address, other times at offices, but rarely 310 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 1: was he listing them where they were actually operating. Similarly, 311 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 1: his executives associated with a business often included people who 312 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: were only minimally connected to it, or he would sometimes 313 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: list himself as an owner, president, etc. In one filing, 314 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,720 Speaker 1: but list someone else on another. In instances where he 315 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: was required to list out a group of executives, they 316 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: were often mentioned only with a last name, making it 317 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: difficult to impossible Will to try to verify or track 318 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 1: those people down. There were almost certainly some fictitious employees 319 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: among them. This was all done to create a muddled 320 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: paper trail that made things like legal actions and tax 321 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: tracking more difficult. And with Tookolan, he also made a 322 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 1: new choice in marketing only to women and often making 323 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: his wife Harriet the front and center in the advertising, 324 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 1: which made it less obviously associated with him. Tukulan was 325 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: also a different path for Neil because it was a 326 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 1: beauty brand, and it may have existed as a venture 327 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: of Harriet's before Neil got involved with it. The name 328 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: Tukulan was supposedly coming from Greek, meaning the beautiful, although 329 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: this is a whole concept in the ancient Greek world. 330 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: It doesn't just mean physical beauty. It's a broader concept 331 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: than that. The company's advertising followed the same exact playbook, 332 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 1: bok and sales tactics that he had been using for years, 333 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: placing advertorials in newspapers. These would once again include testimonials 334 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: of people helped buy Tukulan's products, and would offer information 335 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: and beauty advice at no charge. In some cases, writeups 336 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: would include recipes so people could make the products themselves 337 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 1: at home. However, they always included an ingredient that needed 338 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:31,080 Speaker 1: to be ordered directly from Tukulan. These were touted as 339 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,439 Speaker 1: proprietary ingredients, but analysis later showed that they were usually 340 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,880 Speaker 1: common things like rosewater that had been kind of doctored 341 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:43,960 Speaker 1: up with other ingredients like colorants and glycerine. If a 342 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: customer didn't want to make the concoction herself and risk 343 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: making errors with that, she could also just order the 344 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: pre made version from Tukulan. One ad that ran in 345 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,320 Speaker 1: numerous papers in nineteen oh nine was written according to 346 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: a splash she graphic at the top, by the Countess 347 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: de Kergemo, not a real person, and it described how 348 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: she had been born into nobility but was alas sadly 349 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: not beautiful, and how she had sought help from many 350 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: beauty experts but they all came up short until she 351 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: found Tucalan products including Tukalon complexion powder, krem, Tukalan Tuklan perfume, 352 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: Tukalan dentacrem, and Tuklan talcum powder, as well as various 353 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: preparations that made use of these and other products. This 354 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: very lengthy write up concludes with a note that a 355 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: local supplier has plenty of these products in stock to 356 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,679 Speaker 1: meet the growing demand, and the consumers should call and 357 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: reserve them. The Countess de Kergemo was just one of 358 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: a long line of fictitious women cooked up by Neil 359 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: to promote Tukalan. The same year those ads were running, 360 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: Neil set up a production facility in France. It appeared 361 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:02,640 Speaker 1: the beauty business was going really well, and as France, 362 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: and specifically the village of Grass on the Riviera, was 363 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 1: known as the place for quality perfume being made, Neil 364 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: got a home there to oversee the factory workings. He 365 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,760 Speaker 1: still maintained a home in New York, although e Virgil 366 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 1: Neil continued to run a variety of quick money businesses, 367 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: including a corset manufacturing concern that was also under the 368 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: Tuklan branding umbrella. It seemed as though as cosmetics business, 369 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 1: and especially the perfume line, was becoming legitimate and somewhat respected. 370 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: As it gained reputation, Neil pivoted away from some of 371 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: his shadier advertising practices and more toward what you'd expect 372 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: from a legitimate perfume and cosmetics brand. He still used testimonials, 373 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: but they almost all featured his wife Harriet, and the 374 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: practice of giving something away for free and then offering 375 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:02,399 Speaker 1: a tie in for purchase slowly disappeared. He also started 376 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: expanding into offices in London as well as France, and 377 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 1: started to more carefully ensure that Tuclan didn't have any 378 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: crossover associations with his more dubious business ventures. In some cases, 379 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: this meant founding new companies to handle things like patent 380 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 1: medicines so that they could be removed from Toukelan's factories. 381 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: As part of this reorg, Tukelon, which had always had 382 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 1: a hyphen after its first syllable so it was too 383 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: dash ka n became one non hyphenated word just took 384 00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: Alan and beauty products were all under that company. Some 385 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: of the product line at that point was retired, some 386 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: of them were renamed, and eventually makeup products like eyebrow 387 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 1: and lip pencils, rouge face powders, and a skin beautifier 388 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: that sounds like a foundation or a concealer were all 389 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 1: added to the line. One aspect of this new setup 390 00:24:57,160 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: that Neil was able to really manipulate was the multi 391 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: 'sige national identity of the business. In the US, advertisements 392 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: to talk about Tukulan's European identity, and then in Europe 393 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: he sometimes introduced new products or renamed old products as 394 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: being the latest development from America. Also in Europe, he 395 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: was able to parlay his relative anonymity into a rewritten 396 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: image for himself. He started to tell versions of his 397 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:31,320 Speaker 1: life story and education that weren't entirely accurate or left 398 00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: out things like his various accusations of fraud. And these 399 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:40,480 Speaker 1: strategies worked really well. Took Alan started bringing in massive 400 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:44,840 Speaker 1: profits and e Virgil Neil became incredibly wealthy. In the process. 401 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: He was able to expand sales of the Tooklan product 402 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: line into a lot more countries around the world. He 403 00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: basically had a beauty empire. Yeah, when we say a 404 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: lot more countries, I'm not going into all of it 405 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: because it gets really big. But like we're talking like 406 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:06,160 Speaker 1: into Russia and the Soviet Union, eventually into Australia, into Asia, 407 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: like he was kind of all of the continents but Antarctica. 408 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: He was hitting them with product. At that point. In Europe, 409 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: all of the scandal of the early nineteen hundreds was 410 00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,199 Speaker 1: kind of left behind, and Neil, who was now a 411 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: rich and respected businessman moved in very heady circles. In 412 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,439 Speaker 1: September of nineteen ten, The New York Times reported that 413 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 1: Neil was given an audience with Pope Pius the tenth, 414 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: along with the former president of the Force of Life 415 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: Company O'Byrne. It read quote James R. O Byrne with 416 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: mister and Missus E. Virgil Neil of New York came 417 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,159 Speaker 1: this week from Monte Carlo to Rome, where an introduction 418 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:47,240 Speaker 1: from Archbishop Ireland obtained for them the honor of private 419 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: audience of the Holy Father, to whom they were presented 420 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:55,560 Speaker 1: by Monsignor Hermanos Franerro. The Pope was extremely kind and 421 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: had the whole party sit next him at his desk 422 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: as the audience took place in the Pontiff's private library. 423 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:05,040 Speaker 1: He gave Missus Neil a photograph of himself with a 424 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: long autograph inscription, which he wrote in the visitor's presence. 425 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: When they went, he insisted on accompanying them to the 426 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: door of the room. What's interesting is that during all 427 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,160 Speaker 1: this he did still have a number of shady businesses 428 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: and related lawsuits. Back in the United States. During World 429 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,280 Speaker 1: War One, Neil and his wife Harriet, were back in 430 00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,919 Speaker 1: the US on a number of occasions, and during that 431 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: time a product of his called nooxaded iron was the 432 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,119 Speaker 1: focus of a fresh accusation of fraud. The product was 433 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: manufactured by Day Health Laboratories of Detroit, at least on paper. 434 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: In reality, it was produced in offices Neil had in 435 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: New York. The claim of knoxaded iron was that it 436 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: would quote increase vigor, snap and staying power. Adcopy talked 437 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 1: about how it would enrich the blood and bring color 438 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 1: back to the face. Its list of ingredients were quote 439 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: organic iron in the form of iron peptonate, nux vomica, 440 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:13,360 Speaker 1: and glycerol phosphate of calcium nux fomica. Sounds very gross, 441 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,199 Speaker 1: and there was not much nux vomica in it, just 442 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,560 Speaker 1: one five hundredth of a grain in each tablet, But 443 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:24,400 Speaker 1: that was actually strick nine. The biggest issue for critics, 444 00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:27,159 Speaker 1: bigger than that, anyway, was that it claimed to be 445 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: a wonder drug when its main ingredient, which was iron, 446 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: was commonplace and readily available. That wasn't the only problem, though. 447 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: One of the drug's medical endorsers, the doctor Howard James, 448 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: was convicted for dispensing drugs illegally and admitted that he 449 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: had a drug misuse problem of his own. Other doctors 450 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: that endorsed nuxated iron had similarly problematic backstories, including faked 451 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 1: work histories and fake credentials. In April of nineteen eighteen, 452 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: Neil was arraigned on a fraud charge in New York. 453 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: He entered a not guilty plea and was detained with 454 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: bail set at five thousand dollars. Neil's behavior in this 455 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: case was very different from his previous charges with force 456 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: of life. He did not go into hiding. He showed 457 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: up for his arraignment with his lawyer, He paid his bail, 458 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,240 Speaker 1: and then he sued the New York Tribune for libel 459 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: overcalling him a quack and their coverage over it. This 460 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: is conjecture on my part, but all of this seems 461 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: a little bit as though his took along business was 462 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: legitimizing and he wanted this nookxtated iron problem to be 463 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: handled swiftly and in a way that cleared his name 464 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:41,880 Speaker 1: as much as possible. He was, at the same time 465 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: named in a lawsuit for mail fraud related to another 466 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: company he was associated with. The Cartilage company which sold 467 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: a harness by mail that it claimed could stretch a 468 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: user's vertebrae and increase their height. In these cases, as before, 469 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,880 Speaker 1: Neil's lawyer also worked to distance E. Virgil Neil from 470 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: the products, claiming that really they were the work of 471 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: someone else and thus get him out from under any 472 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: responsibility for them. I was not able to find any 473 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: sort of clear indicator of how these few cases we've 474 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: just been talking about resolved, but Nook stated iron was 475 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:21,000 Speaker 1: sold for years after this, so it seems to have 476 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,560 Speaker 1: been resolved in favor of the company in some way. 477 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,960 Speaker 1: After World War One, Neil appears to have spent almost 478 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,880 Speaker 1: all of his time in Europe, including building a new, 479 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: sprawling mansion called Chateau Dazure in a village north of Nice. 480 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 1: This is also a time when his second marriage ended. 481 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 1: That's similarly nebulous the way his first marriage did, although 482 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: we do know that he and Harriet legally divorced and 483 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: that he almost immediately remarried to a much younger woman 484 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: named Renee Baudier. There were rumors that Neil had become 485 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: obsessed with Renee after after meeting her when she was 486 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: still a teenager, and that she may have lived at 487 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: his house as a sort of adopted daughter before his 488 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: marriage to Harriet ended. That's one of many things in 489 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: these episodes that's not substantiated, and it may have endured 490 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: over the years because Renee lied about her own age 491 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:22,880 Speaker 1: to appear younger than she was. We really don't have 492 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,280 Speaker 1: any additional solid information about how Neil and his third 493 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: wife met and became romantically involved, but they did get 494 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: married on July twenty eighth, nineteen twenty four. A few 495 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: months later, on October thirteenth, the couple welcomed a baby, 496 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: a son that they named after Neil's alter ego from 497 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: his hypnotism days. The baby was zen LaMotte Neil. Perhaps 498 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,000 Speaker 1: the most intriguing part of Neil's story is how easily 499 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: his image was rehabilitated. The many shady dealings of his 500 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,040 Speaker 1: life largely seemed to vanish from public memory, even in 501 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: the US. In nineteen thirty three, Time magazine ran an 502 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,280 Speaker 1: article about him titled Medicine from Sedelia. This rite up 503 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: opens with a long description of a luxury car that 504 00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: the magazine says is valued at fifty two thousand dollars 505 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: and how it was seen sitting outside of a hotel, 506 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: and then as this article unrolls, it's revealed that the 507 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: vehicle belongs to E. Virgil Neil, and its kind of 508 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: evidence of his incredible success. This article also makes him 509 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: sound downright wholesome, writing quote his rise to wealth began 510 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 1: like that of many another US tycoon, on a farm 511 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 1: sixty four years ago at Siedelia, Missouri. He still talks 512 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:44,800 Speaker 1: with the Midwestern inflection bland, drawling, soothing. This article incidentally, 513 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: has been called out for being kind of a fluff 514 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: piece and not well researched, but it does go on 515 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: to mention many of his more nefarious dealings. But the 516 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:57,600 Speaker 1: summation is kind of like that. Neil was to be 517 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: admired for amassing such a huge fortune with the construction 518 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,920 Speaker 1: of Chateau Dajuur. A period of truly moving to Europe completely, 519 00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: including divesting all ties to US production, started for Nil 520 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: and for Tuculan. He shuffled the company's primary headquarters around 521 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 1: his existing offices in other countries to minimize the amount 522 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: of taxes that were due for import and export. Throughout 523 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, both his branch and English branches of 524 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: the company grew each developing their own lines of products 525 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: to best suit their specific markets. But as World War 526 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,680 Speaker 1: Two loomed, living in France and having production facilities in 527 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: both France and London created some challenges. Occupation by Italian 528 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,560 Speaker 1: and German forces in the two French cities where Neil 529 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: was based, Nice and Paris meant that he had to 530 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: move production if he wanted to keep the business going. 531 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: He had boasted when he visited the US in the 532 00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,160 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties that he and Benito Mussolini were friends, and 533 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,720 Speaker 1: he called Mussolini a great man. But just the same 534 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,680 Speaker 1: his factory in Nice was seized by the Italian government 535 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:12,760 Speaker 1: during occupation, so he opened factories in Monte Carlo and Marseille. 536 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,800 Speaker 1: Production continued in London and in an already established factory 537 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: in Switzerland, enabling Tucolon to survive through the war. At 538 00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: this point, Tucalon's holdings were so diversified across multiple continents 539 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,120 Speaker 1: that the shell game he had played to keep his 540 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:32,400 Speaker 1: financial situation inscrutable to others kind of helped e Virgil 541 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,520 Speaker 1: Neil keep everything running. There were also rumors that Neil 542 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:41,359 Speaker 1: and Renee had nefarious dealings during the war that kept 543 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: them living very comfortably while other people suffered. The FBI 544 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 1: compiled a file on him on the suspicion that he 545 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,759 Speaker 1: had traded with the enemy, in part because Tuclon had 546 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: continued its production lines and kept advertising in magazines in 547 00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,000 Speaker 1: Paris all through the war, even when per was occupied. 548 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: He and Renee and their associates had been friendly with 549 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 1: the Germans in France, and that got them labeled as collaborators. 550 00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,160 Speaker 1: They denied these claims and asserted that anything that had 551 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,440 Speaker 1: been deemed suspicious in their activities was simply part of 552 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,399 Speaker 1: the larger effort to keep the business running and keep 553 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 1: people employed. Ultimately, all of the evidence against him and 554 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:29,040 Speaker 1: this was circumstantial. Yeah, this is a much bigger story 555 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:30,680 Speaker 1: in and of itself, if you want to kind of 556 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:35,480 Speaker 1: pick part how one person or one company is figuring 557 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:40,000 Speaker 1: out how to get through the war. The biography that 558 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:44,120 Speaker 1: we mentioned by Mary Schaeffer Conroy goes into all of 559 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: this in deep detail, mentioning all of the various like 560 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 1: it's a spider web of people they're connected to and 561 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 1: how they are connected to German occupation officers, et cetera. 562 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,959 Speaker 1: That biography is called The Cosmetics Bearing. You've never heard 563 00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,600 Speaker 1: of It's a very long book, but it's full of 564 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,400 Speaker 1: a wealth of information. In nineteen forty six, the Neils 565 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: went to Geneva and they ended up spending most of 566 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: the next several years there. In the early summer of 567 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,799 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine, Evir Jil Neil came down with pneumonia 568 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,840 Speaker 1: and he died in Geneva on June thirtieth of nineteen 569 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:22,040 Speaker 1: forty nine. Neil's obituary in his hometown paper, The Sedalia Democrat, 570 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,680 Speaker 1: reflects the edit that his life story went through as 571 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: he gained commercial success. It jumps right from his early 572 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: life to his later business success. Reading quote, mister Neil 573 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,920 Speaker 1: was a native Missourian born near Lincoln and attended Central 574 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 1: Business College here, later becoming a member of the faculty. 575 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:45,360 Speaker 1: Leaving Sedalia, he went to New York and successfully conducted 576 00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:48,439 Speaker 1: a perfumery business, and from there went to France, where 577 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:52,640 Speaker 1: his business reached an international scope. Goes on to talk 578 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,520 Speaker 1: about his beautiful home in France, the last time he 579 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,360 Speaker 1: visited Sedalia, and how he worked right up until the 580 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,520 Speaker 1: day he died. No mention of any of the legal 581 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:07,120 Speaker 1: tangles that happened in the middle, and some cases alongside 582 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:11,440 Speaker 1: all of that. Yeah, the Took Along company lived on 583 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:15,600 Speaker 1: after its founder, although who exactly owned it at various 584 00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,000 Speaker 1: points is a little bit hazy. Like many other things 585 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:21,400 Speaker 1: in his life, it was operated by a company that 586 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,280 Speaker 1: had been founded in the years prior to Neil's death 587 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:28,720 Speaker 1: to manage the company's international affairs, and although the owners 588 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:32,520 Speaker 1: of that management company are documented, there's been a lot 589 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,760 Speaker 1: of speculation that they were managing it after Neil's death 590 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 1: on behalf of a new owner, but we don't know 591 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:41,760 Speaker 1: exactly who that was. Over the course of the twenty 592 00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 1: five years following Neil's death, the company changed hands several times, 593 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: ultimately becoming part of the larger, privately owned Cooper Cosmetics 594 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:54,600 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies. In his will, Neil left two 595 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: thirds of his liquid assets to his wife and the 596 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: remaining third to his son, Zen. Neil Zen refused his inheritance. 597 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,360 Speaker 1: Any money made from sales of assets was to go 598 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,359 Speaker 1: into a trust, which was likely used to be used 599 00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: to manage his debts. Zen went on to work for 600 00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: Tuklan for a while. He actually became a member of 601 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,760 Speaker 1: its board of directors. His wife, Renee, was also involved 602 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,800 Speaker 1: in the business for a while, but she was eventually 603 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,560 Speaker 1: pushed out. His son, Zen eventually moved to California and 604 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,200 Speaker 1: work in retail as a buyer, and he seemed to 605 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:31,799 Speaker 1: largely separate himself from his father's legacy, and Renee died. 606 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,799 Speaker 1: I think in nineteen eighty two that is the wildlife 607 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 1: of E. Virgil Neil. Wild is the word I was 608 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,600 Speaker 1: thinking of. Also, I just have so many thoughts. I 609 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 1: can't wait for Friday episode. Do you have listener mail? Yes, 610 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,120 Speaker 1: I have listener mail. This is from our listener Kimberly, 611 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 1: who writes, Hi, Holly and Tracy. I had previously written 612 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: in about Mammoth Cave Mummy, but just listened to your 613 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: behind the scenes on mirror Balls slash disco Balls. The 614 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,239 Speaker 1: bathroom you talked about with disco Balls is actually in 615 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,879 Speaker 1: a gas station or a chain of gas stations now 616 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:08,760 Speaker 1: in Kentucky called hop shops. The one I heard about 617 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: first is in northern Kentucky, which I guess kind of 618 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:13,279 Speaker 1: makes sense based on what I learned about mirror Balls 619 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,880 Speaker 1: in your episode. Anyway, I have never seen this bathroom, 620 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: as I try to avoid gas station bathrooms at all costs. 621 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,400 Speaker 1: But no folks who have stopped there on purpose, just 622 00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,360 Speaker 1: to push the button and make the disco Ball come out. Listen. 623 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:27,839 Speaker 1: That's the only reason I'd be in there. I kind 624 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: of love the idea that it's such a random and 625 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,480 Speaker 1: unexpected place that has the disco Ball bathroom rather than 626 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:35,400 Speaker 1: a place where you might expect it anyway. I have 627 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,239 Speaker 1: attached a photo of some disco Ball cookies I did 628 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:41,080 Speaker 1: through my cookie business. I often listen to the podcast 629 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:42,759 Speaker 1: as I bake and feel like you all are my 630 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:45,839 Speaker 1: super interesting coworkers that always have fun stories to tell 631 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: at the water cooler. I've also included some updated photos 632 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: of my kiddies, Calypso the Gray and White Fluff and 633 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,279 Speaker 1: Jupiter at the tourny. They both love sleeping on my 634 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:57,000 Speaker 1: daughter's bed during the day, but never together, so it's 635 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,960 Speaker 1: a constant fight for territory. They don't seem to care 636 00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,560 Speaker 1: much for history, but maybe they'll grow into it one day. 637 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 1: Keep up the good word, camp, This is so cool 638 00:40:05,040 --> 00:40:08,120 Speaker 1: and I love seeing these disco Ball cookies. And I 639 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: had seen a mention of where that where that disco 640 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,840 Speaker 1: Ball bathroom was, but then I lost track of it, 641 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:18,160 Speaker 1: So thank you for the reminder or their Kentucky hop shops. 642 00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 1: Go see the disco Ball. I kind of want to, 643 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: trying to think if I would, my travels would take 644 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:25,439 Speaker 1: me there at any point in the near future. Thank 645 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:27,719 Speaker 1: you for writing us that email, and also listen. We 646 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: always want cookie and cat pictures all day, every day. 647 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:33,880 Speaker 1: I can't think of a better thing. If you would 648 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,359 Speaker 1: like to write to us, show us whatever cookies you've 649 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:40,080 Speaker 1: been making or where you like to use public bathrooms. 650 00:40:40,480 --> 00:40:43,040 Speaker 1: Be a weird email, but who knows. Everybody's got their thing. 651 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,880 Speaker 1: You could do that at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 652 00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:48,880 Speaker 1: If you would like to look at the show notes 653 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 1: for the episodes, they are all at mistonhistory dot com 654 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:56,120 Speaker 1: connected to the associated episode. If you would like to 655 00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: subscribe to the show and you haven't gotten around to 656 00:40:58,040 --> 00:40:59,680 Speaker 1: that yet, it's so easy. You can do it on 657 00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:01,799 Speaker 1: the ie heart radio app or anywhere you listen to 658 00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:09,840 Speaker 1: your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in History Class is 659 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:14,200 Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 660 00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 661 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.