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People Tried Unworkable Methods to Ward off Illness Outbreaks in History

Khalid Elhassan March 31, 2020 33 min

Physician - Goat gland — Brinkley's hospital operating room. Imgur

14. Early Twentieth Century Viagra: Goat Testicle Implants

“Men care about their penises” is probably as great an understatement as has ever been uttered. Men have always worried about their family jewels, and throughout history, there has never been a shortage of those eager to cash in on such concerns. Not least when it comes to the ability – or in this case the inability – to get it up.

Before Viagra came along and ruined the party for many charlatans, quack doctors, witch doctors, and self-declared witches and sorcerers had a field day peddling cures for those complaining of sexual malaise. Even today, despite medical breakthroughs in treating erectile dysfunction, a plausible promise to improve men’s penises, combined with savvy marketing, is one of the easiest moneymakers out there. However, few penis problem cure charlatans were as brazen – or as successful – as the doctor who made a bundle implanting goat testicles into men’s sacks.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.