The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

THE HEALTH BULLETIN. 253to a demonstration of the antifat remedyde luxe. The combination of aprofessional antifat faker with a popularand well-advertised burlesque actress,the use of an exuberant and variegatedvocabulary in framing advertising,and of an unlimited amount ofprinter's ink in making extravagantpromises to the overfed, has resultedin breaking the news tothe expectantworld that the "Texas Guinan World-Famed Treatment for Corpulency"will relieve all the ills of fat peoplefor $20 a bottle.This would be lovelyif it were true, but, unfortunately, itis not. The man behind the scheme isWalter C. Cunningham, who in 1906 issaid to have served a term in jail inMinneapolis for fraudulent acts in thereal estate business, and who later wentintothe mail order medical fake business,probably as offering greaterprofits with less risk. In 1909 hestarted, in Chicago, a mail order bustdeveloper and wrinkle eradicator concernunder the name of his wife, EvelynCunningham. In 1910 he sold outthis concern and started another underthe name of Delia Carson. In 1911,after being divorced from EvelynCunningham, he married MarjorieHamilton, the "calendar girl," andwent to Denver, where he started the"Marjorie Hamilton Obesity Cure,"the "Princess Tokio Beauty Company"and the "Cunningham Mail-OrderSchool." Early in August dispatchesfrom Denver stated that the "calendargirl" had been "deposed as the lightin the lives of fat women who seek toreduce." In an interview in a Chicagonewspaper at about the same timeMarjorie said: "Mr. Cunninghamnow has another scheme for moneymaking.I would advise the peoplewho are dealing with him to look out."Mr. Cunningham did have anotherscheme. It involved another womanwhose name he could use and anotherfat-reducing fake. This time thewoman was Texas Guinan, and thewonderful remedy which was offeredas an "absolutely unfailing fat reducer"was found on analysis in thelaboratory of the American MedicalAssociation to be a solution of alumand alcohol in water. A bottle of thiswonderful mixture costs 30 cents, andwas offered for sale by Cunningham as"Texas Guinan's World-Famed Treatmentfor Corpulency," at the low priceof $20, leaving an insignificant marginof profit on each bottle of $19.70. TheJournal of the American Medical Association,which has just published acomplete exposure of this fake, saysthat it will not have any more effecton surplus fat than so much ditch water,and that its sale under the claimsmade for it and at such an outrageousprice is a plain swindle and fraud.The fact that this business is carriedon almost exclusively through theUnited States mails ought to make itscareer a short one. However, as soonas this fraud is squelched, the versatileCunningham will doubtless findanother woman behind whose name hecan hide, and with whose assistance heanother worthless mixture atcan sellan exorbitant price. That unfortunatepart of the public which suffersfrom too much fat ought to understandby this time that there is noremedy for this condition but to eatless and work more, the only twothings which most of these victims areunwilling todo.Who's Been There, KnowsShe— "Take care, Alfred! That isn'tthe remedy for seasickness. Don't yousee the bottle is marked poison?"He— "That's the one I want."