Torney, the Surgeon General of the United States Army (ca. The justification given for the requested seizure was that statements made by the Ionic Research Foundation concerning the Ionic Charger were "false and misleading." Ironically, the examples given in the FDA’s letter of these false and misleading statements were exact quotes Gable had taken from a publication of George H. An undated copy letter from the assistant general counsel in the FDA’s Food and Drug Division was sent to the United States Attorney in Oklahoma requesting that one such device in the town of Ardmore be seized. 26, 1966), and a 1966 FDA Report on Enforcement and Compliance mentions the case. They seem to have begun seizing Ionic Chargers in January 1966 (Atchison Globe Daily, Jan. I am not sure when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first became concerned about the Ionic Charger, most likely it was 1965. However, there is no independent evidence that he worked for the company-we only have his word for it. Gable claimed to have worked for SCC, and if he did, he might have been involved with the production of their emanator. "For supplying Radium emanation for inhalation and for charging drinking and bath water with Radium emanation gas. An SCC brochure with a 1913 copyright describes this emanator as follows: My guess is that the first American radium emanator was produced by the Standard Chemical Company (SCC) of Pittsburgh. I mention this because the design of the Radiumator looks like it might have been the inspiration for Gable’s Ionic Charger. The patent for this device was filed by Alfred Henry Tyrer of Toronto, Canada. Interestingly, the following photograph, probably from the 1930s, shows Gable with a "Radiumator" (aka Standard Radium Emanator)-the latter is seen on the right side of the image. His "ionic charger" looks primitive enough, but the earliest references I have to it are from the 1960s. One of Gable’s many claims was that he invented the first American radium emanator (Chronicle-Telegram. When giving lectures, he sometimes served Radium Highballs to members of the audience. This concoction had a "base of grape and lemon juices and the "kick" was furnished by radon" (Manitowoc Herald News, June 24, 1931). ![]() As early as 1931, he indicated that he was drinking "Radium Highballs" on a daily basis. Gable definitely believed in the medical benefits that would result from drinking radioactive water. The standard price was $575, but educational institutions could receive a 40% discount. "the current generation of professional men has been brainwashed by bureaucratic screaming about fall-out and the truth of the famous spas has been lost sight of." In use, the small bulb was placed into a glass of water and the large bulb was squeezed "a score or more of times." You could then "watch the bubbles of radon gas rise in the glass." The water, now radioactive, was not only for drinking, but also for "plants you are watering, seedlings you are raising, or animals."Īccording to Gable, drinking the radioactive water was safe because it was radon gas that was ingested, "not the metallic element" (i.e., radium). 2" diameter) squeeze bulb was connected with Tygon tubing to one end of the cylindrical chamber, and a small bulb with holes in it was connected to the other end. The gamma exposure rates were sufficiently high that we had to remove and dispose of the source, not something that should be attempted without the proper equipment and knowledge. The device contained a substantial amount (100 uCi?) of Ra-226 inside a cylindrical lead shield that was approximately 5" long and 2 1/2" in diameter. The following image shows the first part of a letter that Luther Gable sent to those who purchased the Ionic Charger. The "Foundation" (i.e., Luther Gable’s house) described itself as a center for "Balneology, Horticulture and Animal Husbandry, Fluorescence, and Atomic Engineering." The "ionic charger" featured here was produced by the Luther Gable’s Ionic Research Foundation in Winter Park, Florida, probably during the early 1960s.
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