Energy drinks have been around for nearly a century, but the ingredients and formulations have changed significantly over time. In the 1920s, energy drinks were far from being considered healthy alternatives to today’s caffeine and taurine-laden beverages. One notorious example was RadiThor, which contained real energy in the form of radium.
RadiThor was developed by William J. A. Bailey, a Harvard dropout with no medical background. The drink consisted of radium dissolved in water and was marketed with catchy slogans such as “A Cure for the Living Dead” and “Perpetual Sunshine.” These slogans aimed to convince consumers that RadiThor was a miracle tonic capable of providing boundless energy and vitality.
At the time, the harmful effects of radiation exposure were not well-understood, and radium was believed to possess health benefits. As a result, products containing radium, such as RadiThor, gained popularity among those seeking a quick energy boost.
This is specifically for ED. I can’t even imagine a superhero whose origin story involves drinking radiation to cure ED.
Radium girls were killed off over many decades after ingesting radium in factories. The owners of the companies knew radium was deadly, but still allowed their employees to work with it unsafely. Read Kate Moore’s “Radium Girls” to find out about America’s shining women.
That’s not even all. Men who supplied radium to the girls were given protective equipment, but girls who painted radium on watches with their bare hands were not. The students were even instructed to lick their paintbrushes with their tongues. The two women who testified at the trial were bedridden and were unable to raise their arms. A company conspired against these young girls and directly caused the most horrible suffering possible.
In the early 20th century, radium salts were used in a wide range of products without much understanding of their potential health effects. It is well documented that Radium Girls licked the tips of brushes with radium dyes to create fine points for painting watch dials. Consequently, they developed severe bone conditions, as Radium is a calcium analog that is preferentially absorbed by bone. Today, we use a different isotope of Radium (Ra-223) as a radiopharmaceutical to treat bone metastases.
We went from Radium harming bones to Radium healing them? It’s pretty amazing what understanding an element can do
Well, no. Radium kills the cancer in this case, but doesn’t do anything to the bone.
It’s Nuka Cola Quantum!
When radium was first discovered, it was commonly used in nearly every product claiming to have radium’s powers. In high school, we performed a play titled Radium Girls about a factory that made glow in the dark watches using paint with radium in it. Those working there pointed the brushes by putting them in their mouths, and their deaths shed light on radium’s dangers.