Editor’s note: In the February 2023 issue of The American Philatelist, Ed Grabowski wrote on the topic of international mail fraud, specifically that committed by Elvard Moses. Moses marketed the Oxypathor, a medical treatment device consisting of a cylinder filled with chemicals and wires coming from the ends of the cylinder that ended in electrodes, which were supposed to be attached to the ankles and wrists of the subject being treated.
The Oxypathor was supposed to polarize the skin and permit the ready entry of oxygen into the blood. Moses claimed that high levels of oxygen in the blood could cure virtually every known human disease.
Moses began sales of the Oxypathor from his Buffalo headquarters in 1908 and was ultimately convicted in late 1914 of mail order fraud by the combined efforts of the United States Post Office Department and the American Medical Association. He was sentenced to 18 months in the Atlanta Federal Prison. The trial revealed that he sold more than 45,451 Oxypathors during this period.
The author had the chance to conduct several clinical studies in recent years to test the Oxypathor’s effects on the health of various philatelists.
Recent Oxypathor Clinical Studies
I first became aware of the Oxypathor in 2013 while at a national show in New England.
Arnold Selengut, aware of my interest in philately and international mail order fraud from earlier shows, showed me with a few covers from the Oxypathor Company. I bought the covers and decided at that moment to collect both the postal history and ephemera relating to this fraud scheme. Delcampe and eBay have proven to be good sources, and as of this writing my collection contains three different models of the Oxypathor.
As the collection grew, I began to present formal talks on this topic at stamp club meetings. At this point it occurred to me that these talks would be an excellent opportunity to conduct clinical studies with my Oxypathors, and answer the question of how 21st century subjects would respond to this early 20th century treatment.
Stamp club presidents became my first choice as subjects for these experiments. My first subject was Jeff Boyarsky who was president of the Hamilton, N.J. Stamp Club a few years ago. Dr. Ron Gonzalez, a member of the club and prominent collector of Puerto Rico, volunteered to assist with the medical duties. Figure A shows Jeff and Ron during the course of my lecture and the treatment protocol. Despite the robust and positive outlook that Jeff shows in the photo, there proved to be no change in his overall physical condition due to the treatment.
My second subject was Nick Lombardi, president of the Westfield, N.J. Stamp Club. Dr. Fred Skvara, one of the nation’s most noted topical collectors, provided the medical monitoring, and psychologist Dr. Marion Rollings provided support for the study. Nick was testing a special model of the Oxypathor with three electrodes as shown in Figure 6. The third electrode was placed over his forehead to directly oxygenate his brain (Figure B). As suggested by the picture, Nick seemed a bit uncertain and confused during the course of the treatment, though the audience was having a grand time. Again, there proved to be no change in his overall physical condition due to the course of the treatment.
Why did these studies achieve such poor outcomes? Possibly I was employing the Oxypathors incorrectly? That’s unlikely, as they are so simple to use. Possibly the chemicals inside each unit had decomposed over the past 100-plus years? Also unlikely, as they are sealed in the units and not exposed to anything that would cause them to decompose. Possibly I failed because the Oxypathors did exactly what they were designed to do: Absolutely nothing at all!