By Michael Dorausch, D.C.
C.C. Petersen’s chiropractic adjustments remove the cause of so-called conditions and diseases. That, according to a 1920s local newspaper advertisement. The confident chiropractor tells potential new patients that he will know what and where your trouble is without asking a question. The downtown Los Angeles chiropractor practiced in a popular historical location, the Homer Laughlin building, located on S. Broadway Blvd. in Los Angeles, California.
Make Me Prove It!
As I mentioned in the recent Chiropractic Make Me Prove It! blog post featuring the same advertisement/image, the text wasn’t the easiest to read.
20 different conditions are mentioned in the chiropractors advertisement. The information listed on the left side of the image reads… C.C. Petersen’s chiropractic adjustments remove the cause of so-called Rheumatism, Asthma, Lumbago, Stomach, Spleen, Liver and Eye Troubles, High Blood Pressure, Nervous and Skin Disorders, Constipation, Headaches, Catarrh (a disorder of inflammation of the mucous membranes in one of the airways or cavities of the body), Paralysis, Bronchitis, Neuralgia, Neuritis, Deafness, Hayfever.
Today’s chiropractic advertisements tend to feature the term back pain versus lumbago. Chiropractors may mention high blood pressure, neuralgia, and headaches in current day advertisements, but it’s highly unlikely to see ads for deafness, bronchitis, and asthma. The most likely reason is changes over the years in Board of Chiropractic and state laws.
Dr. Petersen had office hours not too unlike chiropractors do today. You practice Monday through Friday with hours from 10 AM to 5 PM. He also saw patients Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday evenings, from 7 PM to 8 PM. I imagine in those days Dr. Petersen had time between 5 PM and 7 PM to walk downstairs to the Grand Central Market and grab a meal. To this day, the Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles, is a bustle of activity.
The federal ZIP code had not been established during those days and it was not uncommon for a business to list the name of the building (like the Empire State Building) it was located in, over simply a Name Address Phone Number (NAP) listing. Dr. Petersen’s address was listed as Suite 505 to 509 Homer Laughlin Bldg., 315 South Broadway.
I found it interesting that this chiropractor was listed as a member of three chiropractic organizations. The national organization was the National Federation Chiropractors, the state organization was the Federated Chiropractors of California, and the local organization was the L.A. County Chiropractors Association. Also, chiropractic licensure in the state of California was new around the time this advertisement appeared in a local newspaper.
Today there is no National Federation of Chiropractors but there are two chiropractic organizations in the state of California. One is the International Chiropractors Association of California, and the other is the California Chiropractic Association (referred to by doctors of chiropractic as the CCA).
C.C. Petersen’s ad boldly says: Make Me Prove It! I will tell you what and where your trouble is without asking a question. Each patient receives my personal attention. No one is employed to adjust my patients.
planetc1.com-news @ 11:29 am | Article ID: 1355243377
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