The luxurious bulletproof limo was 22 feet long, weighed four tons, had soft, green leather upholstery and interior fittings of silver and ivory. Sounds like 鈥淭he Beast鈥� used to transport the U.S. President. But back in 1933, President Roosevelt just rode around in a rather ordinary Lincoln. This luxury limo belonged to Ewing Virgil Neal who was described by the American Medical association as 鈥渁 prince of quackery.鈥� Judging by the wealth Neal accumulated, 鈥渒ing of quackery鈥� would be a more apt description.
Neal was an instructor at a business college when he attended a performance by a stage hypnotist. He was so impressed by what he saw that he left his job, took a course in hypnosis and began to tour as a hypnotic performer under the stage name Xenophon LaMotte Sage. It seems that bookings were scarce and Neal pondered whether teaching hypnosis was more lucrative than performing it. He opened the 鈥淣ew York Institute of Science鈥� that in its advertising claimed to have a faculty of widely known scholars, an extensive library and laboratories. Students would be taught to perform hypnosis, instill post-hypnotic suggestions and ways to cure drunkenness, morphine addiction, epileptic fits and rheumatism with hypnosis. They would also learn how to restore the affection of those who had been estranged, make a stingy person liberal and be able to hypnotize a room full of people at once, to abstract a tooth and painlessly perform any surgical operation.
All of this was done by mail order so it came under the purveyance of the U.S. Post Office that eventually brought charges resulting in indictments that the defendants did 鈥渒nowingly, wrongfully, unlawfully and feloniously devise and intend to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretences, representations and premises" in violation of the criminal code of the United States. That put the New York Institute of Science out of business. Neal had his hands in another venture as well. 鈥淐olumbia Scientific Academy鈥� was a 鈥渟chool鈥� of palmistry.
The 鈥減rince of quackery鈥� was certainly an enterprising sort. He had also started the New York Institute of Physicians and Surgeons that promoted a correspondence course in 鈥淰itaopathy,鈥� invented by his colleague Thomas Adkin. This was a form of 鈥渕agnetic healing鈥� with the therapist passing his hands over the diseased body part. Whether it was a heart problem, rheumatism or kidney disease, Vitaopathy could cure it. The course, which was actually just a booklet, also discussed in detail how to best extract money from patients. Upon 鈥済raduation,鈥� requirement for which was nothing more than purchase of the booklet, 鈥渟tudents鈥� received a beautiful diploma with which to entice customers. The Post office shut this operation down as well.
But by this time, Neal had become president of the 鈥淔orce of Life Chemical Company鈥� that had as its flagship product 鈥淣uxated Iron,鈥� a dietary supplement that would 鈥渜uickly transform the flabby flesh, toneless tissues and pallid cheeks of weak, anemic men and women into a perfect glow of health and beauty.鈥� Furthermore, according to ads, 鈥渢he strength of delicate, nervous, run-down folks would be increased 200% in two weeks鈥� time.鈥�
Iron deficiency anemia with its sign of weakness had been recognized since the middle of the 19th century and treatment with iron compounds was known to restore strength. Neal conveniently eliminated reference to anemia and promoted his iron supplement as a general strengthening tonic for all. He also claimed that his iron was 鈥渙rganic,鈥� and unlike inorganic iron chloride or iron sulphate, it would be readily absorbed and would not cause stomach irritation. This was actually true. His iron peptonate, made by adding iron chloride or sulphate to peptides produced by the enzymatic breakdown of proteins, was better tolerated than inorganic iron. But his Nuxated Iron had another component. The 鈥渘ux鈥� referred to an extract of the nux vomica tree, the main ingredient being strychnine! Strychnine is a stimulant and while there was very little of this rat poison in a pill, there is one recorded case of a child dying after consuming a whole bottle of the pills thinking them to be candy.
Neal鈥檚 master stroke was advertising. He was one of the first to enlist celebrities to promote a product. He got Jack Dempsey to say that 鈥淣uxated iron put added power behind my punch and helped me whip Jess Willard for the World Boxing Championship.鈥� Baseball great Ty Cobb claimed that 鈥淣uxated Iron has filled me with renewed life and vigor. I play a better game today than when I was younger.鈥� Neal even sent a sample to the Vatican and got back a note that it had been specially analyzed by the Director of the Pharmacy of the Vatican who found it has merit and that the Holy Father was grateful for the gift. Whether this was true or not, Neal ran ads featuring the picture of Pope Benedict XV with the caption, 鈥淭he Vatican Recommends Nuxated Iron.鈥�.
Neal also managed to get physicians on board. Back then, as today, there was no problem enticing some doctors to endorse a product if they were properly rewarded. 鈥淭here can be no vigorous iron men without iron鈥� Dr. F. King of New York maintained, while Dr. Sauer of Boston asserted that 鈥淚 am convinced that the lives of thousands of persons might be saved who now die every year from pneumonia, grippe, consumption, kidney, liver and heart troubles the real and true cause which started their diseases was nothing more nor less than a weakened condition brought on by lack of iron in the blood.鈥� With such testimonials it is little surprise that sales of Nuxated iron soared until 1945 when the FDA had enough and banned the supplement because of a lack of evidence to back up claims.
Nuxated Iron was not the only product that contributed to Virgil Neal鈥檚 coffers. In 1907 he had founded 鈥淭okalon Manufacturing,鈥� a 鈥渂eauty company.鈥� Marketing was ingenious. Advertisements took the form of articles in magazines that claimed to instruct people how to make wrinkle removing creams and listed the needed ingredients most of which could be found in the kitchen or a pharmacy. The catch was that the key 鈥渁ctive ingredient鈥� was only available from Tokalon. The company also sold 鈥渆lectric hairbrushes鈥� and an assortment of perfumes, shampoos, hair tonics and face powders. Neal hired Simone Mariex, described as a well-known Parisian actress and winner of international beauty prizes, (no record of which can be found) who proposed to reveal 鈥渢he remarkable secret methods by which she obtained her marvelous beauty because 鈥渉er heart bleeds for her plain sisters.鈥� The 鈥渟ecret鈥� was that they had to purchase Santonex, Levathol, Cr猫me Tokalon, Tolomak鈥檚 Beauty Paste, Japanese Ice pencils and Poudre Fascination, all available in pharmacies.
All his ventures allowed Neal to live a lifestyle of the rich and famous. He built a magnificent chateau in the hills just outside Nice a picture of which adorned many of his creams and lotions. And of course he travelled in his luxurious limo. However, he said his most treasured possession was a booklet signed by Benito Mussolini because 鈥渢he great man never gives his signature.鈥� With that, enough said about Virgil Neal, the 鈥減rince of quacks.鈥�
