Atomic Brand Names

A Visa Platinum credit card doesn't contain platinum and Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila doesn't contain gold. The use of the word "platinum" or "gold" is meant to indicate that the product represents something of value, something of high quality. In the early 1900s, radium was more valuable than gold and platinum. As such, the term "Radium" was incorporated into the brand names of any number of products even when these products didn't actually contain radium. The same was true for the term "X-Ray." The products shown here, unlike those in the Quack Cure section of the collection, made no claim that they incorporated radioactive material.