15. Sears had a product for male sexual dysfunction too
One can imagine a sturdy American farmer on a cold winter’s night poring over his Sears catalog by lamplight unless he had purchased the Electric Plant offered by the catalog, and stumbling upon the solution to another problem. Masked in terms such as virility and manliness was a modern solution to the eternal problem of male impotence and/or what has become known as ED, for erectile dysfunction. According to the advertisement, the solution was in the form of a belt, powered with electricity, which applied voltages in a form of shock therapy, applied to parts of the body which simply put are not designed by nature to endure electrical shock or any other form of traumatic shock for that matter.
The belt was said to be beneficial to women as well, perhaps an advertising scheme contrived to make it easier for the man of the house to justify the purchase. In fact, the belt did nothing but provide a stream of mild current, which was adjustable by the wearer, and claimed to be superior in the treatment of all “weaknesses” affecting men and most in women. The 80 gauge current, which means nothing as current is measured in amperes rather than gauges, was touted throughout the catalog listing as a panacea for male woes, and the belt could be purchased for $18.00 in 1908, which is equivalent to almost $500 in current dollars, no pun intended.