Users were provided the following printed instructions on the side of the jar: 1. Fill jar every night. 2. Use hydrant or any good water. 3. Drink freely when thirsty and upon arising and retiring. Average six or more glasses daily. This was probably the most popular device developed in the United States to add radon to drinking water. Advertised by the company as "an original radium ore patented water crock," it sold in the hundreds of thousands between 1920 and the mid-1930s. The jar itself was lined with radium-containing ore and was glazed on the outside and porous on the inside. Water inside the jar would absorb the radon released by decay of the radium. Depending on the type of water, the resulting radon concentrations would range from a few hundred to a few hundred thousand picocuries per liter.
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As the brochure stated, "Results overcome doubts." "The millions of tiny rays that are continuously given off by this ore penetrate the water and form this great HEALTH ELEMENT--RADIO-ACTIVITY. All the next day the family is provided with two gallons of real, healthful radioactive water . . . nature's way to health." Considerable confusion persists about the correct pronunciation of "Revigator." The solution can be found in the question-and-answer section of a 1928 sales brochure of the Revigator Water Jar Company. The answer: "re-vig-a-tor. Accent on the vig." Produced by the Radium Ore Revigator Company of San Francisco California. Their Hayward offices were located at 519 Castro Street, and 641 Castro Street. Donated by Randy Aldrich. |
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