Quackery In Medicine in the 1930’s
To say that the field of medicine has come a long way would be a DRASTIC understatement. I am always interested in the so called “miracle cures” and as we go back in history there are a lot of them. Recently I was reading an article about an oddly named street here in California, and it lead me to the gentleman who the street was named after.
The street is “XXYZX Road” in San Bernandino, and the origins are that of a Curtis Howe Springer who was an old-time radio evangelist at the turn of the century. As his life path unfolded he became a doctor in his own head, and spent many hours convincing others of this fact. Deciding to move west, he got over 12,000 acres of desert to build a hot springs, 60-room hotel, spa, mineral baths, a radio studio, and a church. Well, long story short, he began using this show to sell cures and Springer himself was convicted for selling junk “cures”.