Vi-Rex Violet Rays: Shock Your Way to Physical Perfection

In 1922, “Violet Rays” were said to cure pretty much anything that ailed you. This Vi-Rex device plugged into a light socket so users could give themselves home shock-treatments, which would supposedly make you “vital, compelling, and magnetic.”

“Its magic rays pass through every cell and tissue, creating ‘cellular massage’ — the most beneficial electrical treatment known,” the ad claims.

Whatever it did or didn’t do, a spate of recalls and lawsuits over the product led to the Food and Drug Administration banning these devices. The last manufacturer of violet ray devices in the U.S. appears to have been Master Electric, but in 1951 the company was hit with a lawsuit in Marion, Indiana, and the devices were seized by the FDA.