1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Nke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: Medicine is a funny thing. We like to believe that 7 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: it's an exact, objective science, but the history of medicine 8 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: is full of trial, error and chance. Take penicillin, for example, 9 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: that life saving medication was discovered by accident. A little 10 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: mold in doctor Alexander Fleming's petri dish changed the whole 11 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: world for the better. But some medical inventions are well 12 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: not so for tuitous and back in nineteen thirty two, 13 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: a New England socialite named Ebenezer Buyers learned that the 14 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: hard way. Ebenezer or Eben for short, was born in 15 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, the son of a fabulously wealthy steel manufacturer. 16 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:17,400 Speaker 1: As such, he grew up with a particularly shiny silver 17 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: spoon in his mouth. He studied at the best schools, 18 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,760 Speaker 1: He wore the best clothes and attended the best social events. 19 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,959 Speaker 1: When he graduated from college in the early nineteen hundreds, 20 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,320 Speaker 1: he had no reason to try and find a job. Instead, 21 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: he spent his days playing Richmond's favorite sport, golf, and 22 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: he was really good. In nineteen oh six, he won 23 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: first place at the US Amateur Golf Championship. He might 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: have wanted to go pro, but as he got older, 25 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: he landed right where he'd been destined since birth. His 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: father made him the chairman of the Buyer's Steel company. 27 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: Things were going quite well for Eban until nineteen twenty seven. 28 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: That November, he was riding the train home from a 29 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: collegiate football game, Yale versus Harvard. Of course, he'd just 30 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: a first class ticket and was snoozing away on a 31 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: comfortable bed. Then the trains skidded to a sudden halt, 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: and Eben flew off the mattress and landed on the floor, 33 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: and in the process he hid his shoulder hard enough 34 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: that it was still bothering him a few days later. 35 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: In fact, it hurt so badly that he couldn't play golf, 36 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: which for Eben was a big problem. He went to 37 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: his doctor, who prescribed him with a new miracle drug 38 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: that would supposedly zap the pain right away. It was 39 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: called Ratathor. It came in a small, dark colored bottle, 40 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: and Eben was prescribed one spoonful a day. He did 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 1: as he was told, and just like the doctor promised, 42 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: it made him feel incredible. The pain in his arm 43 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: went away. He had more energy, he felt more alive, happier. 44 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: He liked it so much that he started taking more 45 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,799 Speaker 1: than the recommended dose, sometimes drinking an entire bottle of 46 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: Ratathor in one day. Over the next four years, Eben 47 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: ingested around fourteen hundred bottles of Ratathor. And then one 48 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: day in nineteen thirty one, his jaw fell off his face. 49 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: And I mean that literally, the bones and muscles holding 50 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: his jaw together disintegrated and it just snapped off. Obviously, 51 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: Eban was terrified. He figured this new development must have 52 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: been related to the mysterious liquid that he'd been chugging 53 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: for the last four years, and he was right. Around 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: the same time, the Federal Trade Commission started investigating Radathor 55 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,679 Speaker 1: as a potentially life threatening drug. They sent an attorney 56 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 1: to Evans's house to get a statement from him. Later on, 57 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: that attorney wrote the following about meeting Evan San's jaw 58 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: in a fancy Long Island mansion a more gruesome experience, 59 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: he wrote, in a more gorgeous setting, would be hard 60 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: to imagine Evans's whole upper jaw accepting two front teeth, 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: and most of his lower jaw had been removed. All 62 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: the remaining tissue of his body was disintegrating, and holes 63 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: were actually forming in his skull. Now I know what 64 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: you're asking. What kind of medication causes human bodies to 65 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: break apart at the seams? Well, ratathor contained exactly two ingredients, 66 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: water and radium. And if you're not familiar, radium is 67 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: an extremely dangerous radioactive element that was commonly used in 68 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: everything from paint to medications before people realized that it 69 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: was deadly. By the time Eben died of radium induced 70 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: cancer in nineteen thirty two, he had ingested so much 71 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: of the element that even his breath was radioactive. They 72 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: had to bury him in a coffin lined with lead 73 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: so that his remains wouldn't contaminate the surrounding dirt. It's 74 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: a bleak story, I know, but there was one very 75 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,919 Speaker 1: small upside for Eben. Buyer's radium really does have pain 76 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: relieving properties. So even as his bones slowly fell apart, 77 00:04:45,320 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: Eben couldn't feel a thing. And that, my friends, is curious. 78 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: If you use TikTok, or really any social media, you've 79 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: almost certainly heard the phrase skincare routine. You might have 80 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: seen videos of influencers rubbing layer upon layer of products 81 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: on their faces, talking about how much they love a 82 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: certain serum or a scrub. These days, the beauty industry 83 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: is a five hundred and thirty two billion dollar a 84 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,599 Speaker 1: year business. From mascara that's supposed to make your eyelashes grow, 85 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: to lotion that claims to reverse the signs of aging. 86 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: Beauty products make impossible promises, and the people who peddle 87 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: them make incredible profits. It's been that way throughout history too. 88 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,599 Speaker 1: Take for example, the story of Madame Anna Rupert, a 89 00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: pioneering beauty guru who made a killing then almost got killed. 90 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: Anna was born in Missouri in eighteen sixty four. Now, 91 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: according to legend, she grew up with a birthmark on 92 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: her face. No big deal, right, Well, to Anna, it 93 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: was as a teenager she sought to have the birthmark removed. 94 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: The exact details have been lost to history, but she 95 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: either visited a Saint Louis druggist, which is like a 96 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: pharmacist today, or a vaguely described old woman and I 97 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: use big air quotes for that, whichever one is the truth. 98 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,479 Speaker 1: They apparently provided Anna with a curative formula that made 99 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: the mark disappear. Anna was so happy with the results 100 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: that she wanted to share this magical formula with others. 101 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: She created her own spin on the product and tried 102 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: to sell it. She even started calling herself a dermatologist, 103 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: which was a problem because she had zero medical training. 104 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: In eighteen eighty three, she married a man named Henry Rupert. 105 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: They moved to New York, where Anna's skincare business really 106 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: took off. Her most popular offering was Madame Rupert's Face Bleach. 107 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: If that title makes you a little uncomfortable, I don't 108 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:52,479 Speaker 1: blame you. Anna didn't specifically market her products to an 109 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:55,920 Speaker 1: African American audience, but the idea of skin bleaching definitely 110 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,160 Speaker 1: carries racist undertones. This was a time in history when 111 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: being pale was the beauty standard, and Madame Rupert's face 112 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: Bleach promised to erase tns, freckles, ezema, blackheads, beauty marks, 113 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: and so much more Now. I can't say if this 114 00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: product actually worked, I'd put my money on no though, 115 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: But people bought it anyway, which allowed Anna to establish 116 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: herself as a major player in the nineteenth century American 117 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,120 Speaker 1: beauty business. She wrote a beauty column in a magazine 118 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: called Hearth and Home and published a book titled How 119 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: to Be Beautiful. She later moved to London and captured 120 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: her share of the British market as well. But beauty 121 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: is pain, after all, Anna's life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. 122 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: In the late eighteen eighties, she and her husband got 123 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: a divorce, which was a much bigger deal in the 124 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: nineteenth century than it would be today. Then, in eighteen 125 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: ninety three, the British Medical Journal published an article that 126 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: tarnished the name of Madame Rupert forever you see a 127 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: woman not only as missus Kay had experienced a horrible 128 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: reaction to Anna's face bleach. She actually died after us. 129 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: That's because it contained mercury chloride, which in high amounts 130 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: could cause mercury poisoning. After this, Anna was effectively blacklisted 131 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: from the beauty industry. She turned to acting in theater 132 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: management to make ends meet. And that's why she was 133 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: working at the Princess Theater in London in November of 134 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four when she received the box of candy 135 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: with no letter attached. Clearly it was somewhat suspicious, but 136 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: Anna figured that the gift was from a secret admirer, 137 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: so she ate a handful of the candy. The next day, 138 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: she felt so ill she couldn't perform. It turned out 139 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: that the candy was laced with carbolic acid. Someone had 140 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: tried to poison Anna, and although she survived and offered 141 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: a reward for information, the culprit was never found. Maybe 142 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: it was a disgruntled customer trying to get back at Anna, 143 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: but we'll never know for sure. A few months later, 144 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: Anna moved back to the United States, where she tried 145 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: to re enter the beauty industry by becoming a lecturer 146 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 1: on dermatology. She gave speeches about skincare serums and aging prevention, 147 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,839 Speaker 1: and then quite suddenly, she contracted toberculosis and passed away 148 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety six at just thirty two years old. 149 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 1: And for critics of her work in the beauty product industry, 150 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: there is a small bit of irony there. They're quick 151 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,040 Speaker 1: to point out that Anna died so young she didn't 152 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: have time to get a single wrinkle. I hope you've 153 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 154 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 155 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 156 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 157 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 158 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 159 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 160 00:09:52,559 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.