Abstract:
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After the discovery of
x-rays in 1895, everything about the new rays was dazzling and
fascinating to the public. This amazing
"new light" caught the public's imagination and caused an immediate
and widespread "x-ray mania."
It is not surprising therefore that its name quickly became synonymous
with cutting-edge technology and also functioned as a metaphor
for "powerful unseen truth and strength." X-rays, many believed, would become a part
of everyday culture, from henhouses to the temperance movement, from the
detection of flaws in metal to the analysis of broken hearts. There was an immediate popular response that
spawned the sort of cultural manifestation common to fads. The public was simply astonished
with x-rays, and advertisers played off this spellbound
attention by adding the name to almost any type of product. X-rays appeared in advertising,
songs and cartoons. This exhibit
displays and documents over 20 examples of this phenomenon in both print and
product collected over the past 20 years.
(I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I have had collecting them.)
Gerson MD, E,
X-ray Mania: The "X-Ray" in Advertising, Circa 1895. Radiological Society of North America 2003 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 30 - December 5, 2003 ,Chicago IL.
http://archive.rsna.org/2003/3300013.html
