Description

We are offering a c1920s Vit-O-Net quack “magnetic” blanket in excellent condition–no moth damage, tears or fading. One side is flannel, the other cotton broadcloth. It was sold as a cure for a variety of  ailments ,but in 1930 the US Federal Trade Commission issued an order preventing the company from advertising it as having any medical benefits, saying that it was an electric blanket–no more no less! Dimensions: 60 inches by 75 inches approx.

“William F. Craddock et al of Chicago received U.S. patent no. 1,456,223 for “Electrical blanket and the like” on 22 May 1923. In advertisements of the time, Vit-O-Net was billed as a “health garment” that, through magnetic wires, would draw poisons out of the body and “stimulate new life.” In the annual report of the Federal Trade Commission for 1930-1931, docket 1679, an order entered 7 July 1930, required the Vit-O-Net Corporation, engaged in the manufacture of an electric blanket designated the ‘Vit-O-Net,’ to cease and desist from representing that such blanket is endorsed or recommended by prominent physicians, scientists, etc., and that it has any therapeutic value except as a heating pad.”