Word: magic
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1950
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...early 20s, Nelson started packaging a pinch of vrilium inside an ordinary two-inch-long brass cylinder. Popularly called "The Magic Spike," the cartridge was sold to people suffering from a variety of painful diseases. Nelson was always happy to explain how it worked: when the cylinder was attached to the lapel (or hung around the neck), there were "emanations" into the atmosphere for a distance of 20 feet, discouraging all sorts of disease germs. Meanwhile, the vrilium was supposed to "emanate" inward, restoring the buyer's sick body cells to normal...
...Markup. So many ailing people in & around Chicago flocked to buy that in 1944 the Vrilium Products Co. was formed to manufacture and sell more Magic Spikes. Former Mayor Ed Kelly wore one to the 1948 Democratic National Convention, and credited the healing of a bone abscess to its power. Other wearers included Municipal Court Bailiff Al Horan and Illinois State Senator William J. Connors. Exact sales figures on the Magic Spike are unknown. Osteopath Raymond Kistler of Wyandotte, Mich, admitted that he bought 150 at around $150 apiece, resold them...
Last week in Chicago federal district court, the U.S. Government was finally taking official, disapproving notice of the Magic Spike. Inventor Nelson's son, Robert T. Nelson Jr., and his partner George C. Erickson were on trial, charged, under the Pure Food and Drug Act, with "false and misleading" claims about the gadget's powers (maximum penalty: a year in jail...
Bapa v. Bunya. There are other superstitions, including the suea yant, a red jacket enscribed with Cambodian letters , Which is guaranteed to protect the wearer "against all harm so long as he has faith in the magic jacket. Seven lucky possessors of these jackets in one of Bangkok's northern suburbs recently took advantage of their invulnerability to terrorize the neighborhood. A fortnight ago, some 50 of their fed-up neighbors took axes and dropped in on the seven to test their magic garments. Before the cops arrived three of the seven were dead. But a brisk demand...
...Broadway. Meanwhile, it was busy doing homage to a meteoric new playwright, who, like Eliot, had turned the trick of making poetic drama a sizzling box-office hit. A year ago, few even in London literary circles had heard of Christopher Fry. Last week the name was marquee magic that packed two theaters with customers of all brow heights. The plays: Fry's Venus Observed, produced, directed and acted by Sir Laurence Olivier...