358: DINSHAH GHADIALI SPECTRO-CHROME QUACK MEDICAL DEVICES

Being offered here are two examples of this classic piece of American quackery which bases its dubious benefits on the idea that chemical elements are attuned in light color waves. It was invented by one of Americas most notorious fakes, Colonel Dinshah P. Ghadiali M.S.C. who, prior to going to prison, put forth the thesis that his Spectro-chrome system of projecting various waves of colored light on affected parts of the body could cure a number of ills. He prosecuted this ruse for decades and made a small fortune doing so.

This example of 'Spectro-Chrome Metry' projector in blue plywood bears a metal announcing 'Restoration of the Human Radio-Active and Radio-Emanative Equilibrium (Normalation of Imbalance) by Attuned Color Waves. No Drugs. No Manipulation. No Surgery' The Science of Automatic Precision. Last patent date 1936. Also states and understanding that, 'as the proper use of this spectro-chrome requires special training and technical knowledge in the user and also necessitates the production of the attuned color waves by means of the genuine Dinshah attuned color wave slides, this apparatus is sold without any liability, guarantee or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding the results...' Indeed. Ghadiali had made more than a million dollars on his machines by 1940. The end of the following decade found him on probation, having run afoul of Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Hefty fines followed. A permanent injunction in 1959 left patients to suffer on their own. This lot includes two Dinshah Ghadiali Spectro-Chrome machines. The second example in this lot has lost its original plaque.
Measure 52 x 20 x 22 inches.
Each machine displays the effects of age and use. Both are in excellent working order given the simplicity of the mechanism: a light socket, a light bulb and some colored glass slides.
$150 - $200