Radithor
-
Liquid Sunshine: The Radioactive Water Doctors Prescribed | Object Histories
In the 1920s, a con man named William Bailey bottled real radium and sold it as “perpetual sunshine” — a cure-all tonic that doctors prescribed and pharmacies stocked. His most devoted customer was Eben Byers, a wealthy steel executive and U.S. Amateur golf champion, who drank roughly 1,400 bottles before his jaw began to disintegrate.…