Vitamania : Vitamins in American Culture title: Health and Medicine in American Society author: Apple, Rima D. publisher: Rutgers University Press isbn10 | asin: 0813522781 print isbn13: 9780813522784 ebook isbn13: 9780585118338 language: English Vitamins in human nutrition--Social subject aspects--United States. publication date: 1996 lcc: QP771.A67 1996eb ddc: 615/.328 Vitamins in human nutrition--Social subject: aspects--United States. Page i Vitamania Page ii HEALTH AND MEDICINE IN AMERICAN SOCIETY series editors Judith Walzer Leavitt Morris Vogel Page iii Vitamania Vitamins in American Culture Rima D. Apple RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESS New Brunswick, New Jersey Page iv Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Apple, Rima D. (Rima Dombrow), 1944- Vitamania : vitamins in American culture / by Rima D. Apple. p. cm. (Health and medicine in American society) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8135-2277-3 (cloth : alk. paper). ISBN 0-8135-2278-1 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Vitamins in human nutritionSocial aspectsUnited States. I. Title. II. Series. QP771.A67 1996 615´.328dc20 95-43281 CIP British Cataloging-in-Publication information available Copyright © 1996 by Rima D. Apple All rights reserved Published by Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey Manufactured in the United States of America Page v Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction "Perhaps Your Diet Is Too Modern" The 1 Discovery of Avitamiviosis Chapter 1 13 "They Need It Now" Popular Science and Advertising in the Interwar Period Chapter 2 33 "To Protect the Interest of the Public" Vitamins, Marketing, and Research Chapter 3 54 "Superior Knowledge" Pharmacists, Grocers, Physicians, and Linus Pauling Chapter 4 85 Miles One-A-Day The History of a Vitamin Dynasty Chapter 5 109 Acnotabs Scientific Evidence in the Marketplace Page vi Chapter 6 125 "Millions of Consumers Are Being Misled" The Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Protection Chapter 7 144 "Preserve Our Health Freedom" Science in Consumer Politics Chapter 8 158 "Intensity" Makes the Difference Vitamins in the Political Process Conclusion 179 Vitamania? Vitamins in Late Twentieth-Century United States Notes 199 Index 233 Page vii Illustrations Figure 1-1 15 Kitchen Craft Waterless Cooker advertisement Figure 1-2 16 Red Heart Dog Biscuit advertisement Figure 1-3 21 Squibb's Cod-Liver Oil advertisement Figure 1-4 23 Squibb's Cod-Liver Oil advertisement Figure 1-5 24 Oscodal advertisement Figure 1-6 28 Squibb Adex Tablets-10 D advertisement Figure 2-1 39 Bottled Sunshine advertisement Figure 2-2 43 Hygeia advertisement Figure 2-3 45 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation advertisement Figure 3-1 56 "Vitamin Capsules in Strange Surroundings" Figure 3-2 60 "Keep 'em coming!" Figure 3-3 64 Whelan drugstore Figure 3-4 66 "Vitamize" window display, Newark, N.J. Figure 3-5 71 "You have the upper hand!" Figure 3-6 72 "You're the expert" Figure 3-7 76 "Stop that cold!" window display Figure 4-1 94 Miles One-A-Day advertisement Figure 4-2 96 "Year 'Round: One-A-Day Vitamins for Your Whole Family" Figure 8-1 175 "What do Dietary Supplements and Dinosaurs Have in Common?" Page ix Acknowledgments Many people have supported and encouraged this project. It is my great pleasure to publicly thank them for their faith and assistance over the years. I will begin in a sense where the book began, with the sources. Suzanne White Junod, FDA historian, first made me aware of the wealth of material available in the Food and Drug Administration Archives. She instructed me in the intricacies of the archive's structure and provided a most comfortable work environment. Through the years she and her fellow FDA historian John Swann have been of immeasurable assistance. Celeste Aaron made me welcome at the Miles Laboratories Corporate Archives; I value her knowledge and her friendship. Betsy Hamilton made the Consumers Union Archives and her home available to me during my visit to Yonkers; I am grateful for both. James Liebig aided my research in the University of Wisconsin Archives. Else Arnold and John R. Pike helped me locate records in the files of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Howard Shuman graciously agreed to be interviewed about his work in the office of Senator William Proxmire; his thoughts and analysis were appreciated. Discussions with Professor Aaron Ihde aided my understanding of Harry Steenbock. David Sandmire was the most conscientious and capable research assistant. He spent six months finding matrial scattered