Evons Ellis (1 results)

Unbound. Condition: Near Fine. Event ticket. Measuring 5½" x 1¾". Pink paper, printed on both sides. Recto sunned else fine. A ticket for two women (18 or over) to attend Ellis's "absorbing, interesting, and educational" lecture. "Do you know? What makes a woman beautiful? How to prevent the common cold? What is meant by 'Test Tube Babies?' How were quintuplets possible? Mystery of glands on health and beauty?" The answer to these questions and more were to be found at the Odd Fellows Temple, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, May 1st and 2nd, 1935. To quote the *AMA Journal of Ethics* at some length: "But sex talks weren't the only thing Professor L. Ellis Evons was selling. He was peddling oxylin antiseptic tablets for guarding against vaginal infections. This poisonous drug was found to contain over 50% boric acid by an FDA inspector. Gearing his products towards women, he also used these lectures to distribute contraceptives. He advertised himself as a 'noted biologist and sexologist.' However, according to correspondence between the AMA and the Better Business Bureau of Philadelphia in 1934, the Bureau of Investigation revealed 'he was wholly unknown to [the] science world.' Professor Evons was operating during a time when the Comstock Laws made discussion and distribution of contraceptives illegal. He used the 'Women's National Health Council,' a sham operation, as a front to arrange his well-attended lectures. Although they were ostensibly free, he did ask for donations from the women who attended. It's believed that he secretly sold his contraceptives in a back room after these lectures.".