Eighteenth Century Viagra
July 16, 2010 –Yes we are still on the stangest tales of London :)
Dr James Graham was a genuine doctor, but at a time when all genuine doctors were by modern standards complete frauds – the evidence for this can be seen in the fact that, for example the Edinburgh medical textbook of 1750 listed under ‘valuable remedies’ the following: horse dung, pig skulls, frogspawn, ants’ eggs and ground-up human skulls.
But Dr Graham, although interested in medicine, was far more interested in money, which is why when he left his native Edinburgh for London in around 1774 he set up his surgery in the most fashionable part of town at the time – St James.
By 1779 he had realised that an important medical affliction was not at that time being addressed by any medical practitioner. Dr Graham decided that he would corner the market in cures for infertility. He set his Temple of the Hymen in Pall Mall and took large expensive advertisements in the London newspapers. In these he made outlandish claims for the extrardinary benefits of what he called his ‘Cellestial bed’ The idea was that infertile couples would seek out the doctor, ask his advice and then be directed to his own certain cure: the Celestial Bed. Not only would the bed cure infertility – it would also ensure that any children conceived on it were far stronger and more beautiful ‘in mental as well as in bodily endowments than the present puny race of Christians’.
The bed could only be rented and couples paid exorbitant sums for the privilege – perhaps as much as £100 per session (around £12000 today).
Graham claimed that while an infertile couple had sex on his bed he would activate a mechanism that would surround the happy couple with ‘celestial fire’ and ‘cherishing vapours’. He would also pump through glass tubes the very same perfumes used by the Turkish Sultan to guarantee that he could keep up with the demands of his enormous harem.
Despite the bed’s mattress being made from the baked tails of sexually rapacious English stallions, history does not record the levels of statisfaction enjoyed by Dr Graham’s customers, but we do know that within a few years of the advertisments appearing, the good doctor vanished from the London scene.
Im not quite sure about the correlation between viagra and infertility, apart from the obvious; but its a great story and one I wanted to share. I get asked about viagra – a lot. My opinion is that it is a fantastic little pill and definitely does work. However, like must drugs, it has serious side effects and I would urge my fellas NOT to purchase anything of this nature from sources on the internet. Please go and see your GP. They know your history and can do a quick health check (blood pressure is the key factor here) to make sure all is ok.
Now then, I am off to find some celestial fire, cherishing vapours, and let me see, what else is on my list? Oh yes the baked tails of sexually rapacious stallions, do you think Waitrose will have them?
