{"id":659,"date":"2015-04-11T12:11:59","date_gmt":"2015-04-11T19:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=659"},"modified":"2015-04-12T08:33:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-12T15:33:41","slug":"11-bizarre-and-dangerous-items-sold-by-sears-in-1902","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/?p=659","title":{"rendered":"11 Bizarre and Dangerous Items Sold by Sears in 1902"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sears has struggled mightily over the last decade or so, but they were America’s #1 retailer for a LONG time. \u00a0And that’s kind of surprising see as how they were trying to poison people with arsenic, turpentine, wolfsbane, and nitric acid, as well as castrate them with knives. \u00a0 Not sure how that would play in today’s customer-service oriented market…<\/p>\n

The 1902 edition of the Sears, Roebuck catalogue offers items of particular interest and questionable health benefits\u2014everything from the latest fashions to the \u201csurest\u201d cures. Here are some highlights.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. DR. ROSE\u2019S FRENCH ARSENIC COMPLEXION WAFERS<\/em><\/h4>\n
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These poisonous wafers were advertised as being \u201csimply magical\u201d for the complexion, their most striking effects \u201cbeing brought about by their steady use.\u201d They were guaranteed to improve \u201ceven the coarsest and most repulsive skin and complexion\u201d\u2014especially if you\u2019re into the lurid pallor of death.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. THE TOILET MASK<\/em><\/h4>\n
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At first glance, a toilet mask doesn\u2019t sound so bad. But this mask doesn\u2019t use soothing cucumber extracts to beautify the complexion\u2014it\u2019s an \u201cacid cured\u201d rubber mask coated with \u201chealing agents\u201d meant to eradicate \u201cfreckles, liver spots, and other facial blemishes.\u201d Who needs microdermabrasion when you can just use trace amounts of acid?<\/em><\/p>\n

3. MAGIC FLESH BUILDER AND CUPPER<\/em><\/h4>\n
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This toilet accessory looks more or less like an oversized suction cup. Its purpose? To \u201crebuild the shrunken tissues of the bust, neck, arms, and the only method which permanently removes wrinkles,\u201d assumedly by sucking things back into place. We\u2019d hate to be the guinea pig who tested this thing out.<\/em><\/p>\n

4. SPIRITS OF TURPENTINE<\/em><\/h4>\n
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This elixir was ingested to kill intestinal parasites\u2014and hopefully not their human host. Turpentine still has modern medicinal uses, but usually in chest rubs (Vicks, for example) and not drinkable medicines.<\/em><\/p>\n

5. ACONITE<\/em><\/h4>\n

This herb is advertised as a homeopathic medicine, and while it has a long history of medicinal use, it\u2019s better known by another name: wolfsbane, a known poison and neurotoxin. Though the plant can be used as an anesthetic, it works because it damages the nerves around a treated area.<\/em><\/p>\n

6. KEROSENE EMULSION<\/em><\/h4>\n

To be used as an insecticide on crops and animals, this product promises to kill \u201cplant lice, red spiders, scales, and mealy bugs,\u201d among other pests. It also offers strong motivation for washing your fruits and veggies very well before eating.<\/em><\/p>\n

7. (VETERINARY) CASTRATING KNIVES<\/em><\/h4>\n

While many parents might argue that castrating knives pose no lasting danger to male infants, the horse that came under this knife would probably disagree. Knives come with a choice of one, two, or three blades of varying sizes to meet all of your gelding needs.<\/em><\/p>\n

8. GIANT POWER HEIDELBERG ELECTRIC BELT<\/em><\/h4>\n
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Suffering from a nervous disease? Infertility? A \u201cweakness peculiar to men?” Then this electric belt may be for you! In cases of sexual weakness, \u201ca cure is certain.\u201d This belt promises \u201cthe best, most reliable, most harmless yet powerful, cheapest cure possible.\u201d Just shock yourself back to health!<\/em><\/p>\n

9. OPIUM<\/em><\/h4>\n

Marketed as a homeopathic remedy, opium was available by mail order to your doorstep. If you happened to form an addiction, never fear\u2014you could always order more!<\/em><\/p>\n

10. NITRIC ACID<\/em><\/h4>\n

Though nitric acid has some medicinal purposes when used with extreme caution\u2014from addressing potassium deficiencies to its use as a cauterizing or diuretic agent\u2014it\u2019s also a highly poisonous substance. The National Library of Medicine suggests seeking medical attention if you so much as inhale any fumes from nitric acid. However, in 1902, it was listed as a homeopathic medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n

11. THE SET OF MCKINLEY ASSASSINATION SLIDES<\/em><\/h4>\n
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Though this item isn\u2019t particularly dangerous, it is particularly curious. You could order a lecture set of slides for your Stereopticon (a home slide projector) depicting \u201crealistic views of the assassination,\u201d including images of McKinley\u2019s attacker \u201ctaken within ten minutes of his capture by the police.\u201d Who needs Tarantino movies when you can view real footage of a national tragedy?<\/em><\/p>\n

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From mentalfloss.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sears has struggled mightily over the last decade or so, but they were America’s #1 retailer for a LONG time. \u00a0And that’s kind of surprising see as how they were trying to poison people with arsenic, turpentine, wolfsbane, and nitric acid, as well as castrate them with knives. \u00a0 Not sure how that would play Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-retail-companies","category-retail-humor"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":664,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions\/664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/re-tales.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}