Thanks to all our buyers! We are honored to be your one-stop, 5-star source for vintage pin up, pulp magazines, original illustration art, decorative collectibles and ephemera with a wide and always changing assortment of antique and vintage items from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco; Mid-Century Modern eras. All items are 100% guaranteed to be original, vintage, and as described. Please feel free to contact us with any and all questions about the items and our policies and please take a moment to peruse our other great items. All sell !ITEM: You are offerding on a sleek and modernist C. 1940s Art Deco machine age industrial design streamlined brown bakelite medical quack device.
Conceived in a well-appointed handsome and stylish moderne sleek industrial decorative design aesthetic. In very fine cosmetic condition - And hey, this works although we would not advise using it as anything other than an oddity.
Marketed as a device that would kill a variety of ills the \"Roll A Ray\", Heat Message with Infra Red.
The streamline design is fantastic, and it looks like it is moving fast even when just sitting inert on a shelf or display case.
This is a piece of true medical \"quakery\", and dates to the mid century.
Made by the Sutton Company of Witchita, Kansas.
A lawsuit against this company was filed in Federal District Court in NY.
The suit was filed based on a shipment inspection in Feb, 1948.
Charge was \"Misbranding\", due to the misleading statements that this device will treat lumbago, rheumatism, muscular aches, etc.
InDecember of 1949, the courts ordered that the devices should be modified by removing the 60-watt bulb and replacing it with a 30-watt bulb, and also that the company must destroy the labeling indicating directions and uses onthe sides of the carton.
The box stated: \"Use massage and penetrating ray for loosening muscles and assisting in driving fatty tissues away.\"
Courtfound that the medical claims were fraudulent and required the manufacturer to cover or destroy the packaging making such claims.
Measures just under 8\"deep by 7 1/1\" tall by 4 3/4 across
100% guaranteed vintage and original as always from Grapefruit Moon Gallery!
CONDITION: Very fine condition. We plugged it in and this works. Remarkable design as seen. The case is brown bakelite and this dates to the 1940s - This should be in a museum in our opinion ~~ Please use the photos here for the best condition report!
Just a fabulous find as seen.
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