Editing William R. Ferguson (section)

== Zerret Applicator ==
[[File:Zerret Applicator from FDA Historians.jpg|alt=Blue and white dumbbell shaped device, held in gloved hands|thumb|[[Food and Drug Administration]] official holding the Zerret Applicator in 2014]]
In the 1940s, people began to follow Ferguson for his "cosmic healing techniques", particularly a "clarified water device" which he said Khauga had taught him to make.{{sfn|Melton|2009|p=783}}{{sfn|Lewis|2000|p=91}}{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}} Ferguson created and assembled the Zerret Applicator, or Zerret, a blue and white [[celluloid]] dumbbell shaped device that contained "a mysterious fluid".<ref name="ThePalladium-Item1949">{{Cite news |date=1949-04-05 |title=Fraud Charge Faces Pair on "Atomic Cure" |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/palladium-item-fraud-charge-faces-pair-o/172409469/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[The Palladium-Item]] |location=Richmond |page=6 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=119 |issue=81 |issn=2993-9534 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref name="FortWorthStar-Telegram1948">{{Cite news |date=1948-09-12 |title=Even a 'Zerret': Some People Will Buy Anything |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram-even-a-zerret/172409503/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Fort Worth Star-Telegram]] |page=8 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=225 |issn=0889-0013 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=328}} In reality, the Zerret Applicator was made of two plastic globes which were originally from a baby rattle, and the globes contained only [[paraffin wax]], dust, and tap water.<ref name="ThePalladium-Item1949" />{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=328}}<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950c">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-12 |title='Healer' Called Only Dirt and Water in Trial |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-healer-called-only-dir/172409661/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=2-6 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CIX |issue=113 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> It was nicknamed the "dumbbell cure" for its resemblance to a plastic dumbbell.{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=328}}<ref name="Browning1959">{{Cite news |last=Browning |first=Norma Lee |date=1959-06-14 |title=Quackery — $500,000,000 Racket: The Snake Oil Salesman Was a Piker Compared with the Grafters Fleecing the Gullible Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-quackery-500000000/172539749/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=[[Chicago Sunday Tribune]] |pages=35 |language=en-US |issn=1085-6706}}</ref>

In 1963, an issue of the magazine ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'' listed the Zerret Applicator among the "typical fraudulent machines", in an article on [[quack medicine]].<ref name="McNeel1963">{{Cite magazine |last=McNeel |first=John P. |date=October 1963 |title=Quack Medical Machines |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CeMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA220 |access-date=2024-11-10 |magazine=[[Popular Mechanics]] |location=New York City |page=220 |language=en-US |via=[[Google Books]] |volume=120 |issue=4 |issn=0032-4558}}</ref> Writer Carl Sifakis sarcastically deemed the Zerret Applicator "one of the grandest miracle devices of all" in an article on quackery.{{sfn|Sifakis|1993|p=171}} The Zerret Applicator was about 10 inches long,<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948">{{Cite news |date=1948-09-13 |title=Health Ray Dumbbell Lifts 3 into Court on Con Game Charge |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-health-ray-dumbbell-lift/172409528/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=III-8 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CVII |issue=220 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> and was claimed to contain what was called "Zerret water", which was supposed to produce the "Z-ray, a force unknown to science".{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=328}}<ref name="McNeel1963" /> The device was advertised as an "atomic cure" that functioned via "expanded hydrogen atoms" and would reverse aging; Ferguson claimed that "life rays from the body flow into the Zerret, are rejuvenated and invigorated, then flow back into the body",<ref name="ThePalladium-Item1949" /><ref name="FortWorthStar-Telegram1948" /> expanding the molecules in the body.{{sfn|Sifakis|1993|p=171}} He said this would result in relaxation and "improve chemistry of the body", which would cure all ailments.<ref name="McNeel1963" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> Specific illnesses Ferguson claimed could be cured by the Zerret included [[arthritis]] and [[rheumatism]].<ref name="TheIndependent1948">{{Cite news |date=1948-10-03 |title=Judge Doubts 'Zerret' Has Curative Powers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pasadena-independent-judge-doubts-zerre/172409598/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=The Independent |location=Pasadena |page=50 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=XVI |issue=198 |agency=[[International News Service]]}}</ref> Instructions for usage were to hold the applicator with all ten fingers on both hands, without crossing one's legs, at least three times a day for 15 minutes.<ref name="FortWorthStar-Telegram1948" /><ref name="DecaturHerald1948">{{Cite news |date=1948-09-30 |title=Deny They're 'Suckers': Zerret Users Rise to Defend Fraud Suspects |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/herald-and-review-deny-theyre-suckers/172409605/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Decatur Herald]] |page=10 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=69 |issue=231 |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> If one crossed their legs, it was said to "short circuit" the mechanism.{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=328}} 

Ferguson's sales director was Mary Stanakis, who met Ferguson when he picked her up for a taxi ride in April 1946. Stanakis then had asthma, and believed she felt better after Ferguson gave her the applicator. She decided to buy one and afterwards became an associate of Ferguson and his sales director.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950a">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-17 |title=Tells How She Began Selling 'Dumbbell Cure' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-tells-how-she-began-sell/172538416/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=14 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CIX |issue=117 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> In July 1946, Ferguson quit his taxi driving job to sell Zerrets.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950a" /> Ferguson had 25 salespeople,<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> and the Zerrets were sold through [[mail order]].{{sfn|Hogan|2016|p=295}} The Zerrets were assembled by Ferguson, who sold them to Stanakis, who sold them to a salesperson for $25, who then sold them to the public for $50.<ref name="FortWorthStar-Telegram1948" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> Other sales agents sold the applicators in several other states.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950d">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-18 |title=Sealed Verdict Given in Quack 'Dumbbell' Trial: Jury Reaches Decision After Two Hours |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-sealed-verdict-given-in/172409464/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=10 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> After being sold the Zerret, several customers agreed to sell Zerrets to others.<ref name="TheIndependent1948" /><ref name="DecaturHerald1948" /> They sold over 5000 of them, each costing $50.{{sfn|Janssen|1993|pp=328–329}}

=== Fraud trial ===
A customer eventually complained to police after not getting a result from the Zerret Applicator.<ref name="TheIndependent1948" /> On September 11, 1948, Ferguson, Stanakis, and Flay Smith, one of his salespeople, were arrested in [[Chicago]] and were held and charged with running a [[scam]].<ref name="FortWorthStar-Telegram1948" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> All three were released on $1,000 [[bail|bond]], and the post office issued a fraud order that banned them from mailing items.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> Ferguson claimed he was uninterested in money and cared only about helping humanity.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1948" /> In October, Ferguson was charged with [[fraud]] by the prosecutor.<ref name="TheIndependent1948" /> His defense lawyer called over 40 witnesses, who testified to a judge that the device had helped them. In response, the judge expressed his doubts and stated "I think you are all suckers. But I'll keep an open mind."<ref name="TheIndependent1948" /> After the arrests, the devices were studied by city chemists.<ref name="TheIndependent1948" /> 

In April 1949, Ferguson and Stanakis were charged federally with a violation of the [[Pure Food and Drug Act]], for entering a misbranded therapeutic device into interstate commerce.<ref name="ThePalladium-Item1949" /> Attorney Robert C. Eardley said they had sent three shipments of the device across interstate lines, with misleading information.<ref name="ThePalladium-Item1949" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950c" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950b">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-16 |title=Health Device Useless, Expert Says at Trial |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-health-device-useless-e/172409636/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=10 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CIX |issue=118 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> During the federal trial in 1950 presided over by judge [[John P. Barnes]], it was demonstrated by American nuclear physicist [[Bernard Waldman]], using a [[Geiger counter]], that the Zerret contained no radioactive material.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950c" /><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950b" /> Several physicians testified that the object was useless.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1950-05-13 |title=3 Doctors Deny Healing Device Aided Patients |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-3-doctors-deny-healing-d/172409617/ |access-date=2024-11-10 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=8 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CIX |issue=114 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> Physiologist [[Anton Julius Carlson]] testified that the devices had no therapeutic value. A chemical analysis was done on the contents of the Zerret, and its contents were found to be the same as Chicago tap water.<ref name="McNeel1963" />{{sfn|Sifakis|1993|p=171}}{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=329}} Stanakis and Ferguson were tried by a [[jury]], which delivered its verdict on May 17, 1950.<ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950d" /> They were found guilty and [[convicted]] of [[fraud]],{{sfn|Hogan|2016|p=295}} specifically of entering a misbranded therapeutic device into interstate commerce.<ref name="EnquirerandNews2">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-22 |title=Pair Convicted in Sale of Fake Healing Gadget |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/battle-creek-enquirer-pair-convicted-in/172850233/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |newspaper=[[Enquirer and News]] |location=Battle Creek |page=16 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref name="ChicagoDailyTribune1950e">{{Cite news |date=1950-05-19 |title=Medical Quacks Found Guilty in Federal Trial |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-medical-quacks-found-gui/172849394/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |newspaper=[[Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=17 |language=en-US |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=CIX |issue=119 |issn=1085-6706}}</ref> Ferguson was sentenced to two years in federal prison and Stanakis was sentenced to a year.{{sfn|Janssen|1993|p=329}} Ferguson served only a year in prison.{{sfn|Clark|2001|p=358}}