What the heck is a "Titus Pearl?"

by MauricioBabilonia

Hello! I was reading this old question as answered by /u/kieslowskifan and in their answer they mention something called "titus pearls." This newspaper clipping also mentions them and they seem to be a product sold as a replacement for sex hormones that was marketed to both men and women, sold under Hirschfeld's name.

My question is what is in these things? Are they testosterone? If so is testosterone being marketed to women in this ad? Or are they just snake oil? And if they are snake oil how did Hirschfeld's name end up associated with them?

Thanks!

kieslowskifan

The active ingredient for Titus-Perlen was based upon an earlier concoction of Hirschfeld's called Testifortan. The pearls were a mixture of aphrodisiacs and Testifortan. As the latter's name implies, it was a hormonal replacement treatment and the name Titus derived from the Roman Emperor, associated with virility and strength. Testifortan used freeze-dried and pulverized bull endocrine glands and testicles and other elements similar to male hormones to replace alleged the loss of hormones that come from advancing age. One of the other supplements was the West African herb, yohimbe, derived from the bark of the evergreen yohimbe tree. The effectiveness of Titus Pearls was naturally rather questionable. Like many miracle cures for men's perception of a failing libido, there was a placebo effect. Yohimbe has been used for erectile dysfunction, and still is used to treat it and as a weight loss supplement. Much AG's aggressive marketing of Titus Pearls ran afoul of the German Ad Council, which had strict prohibitions against excessive claims such as that the Pearls fought aging or that impotence was a major problem in Germany.

Much AG marketed the Pearls to both men and women for use by their men. Advertisements from the late 20s and 30s stressed that this treatment would restore balance between the sexes in marriage. Such advertising played to fears of the loss of virility and health in the wake of the World War and the influenza pandemic. Most of the German marketing towards women was under the assumption they would buy it for their men and that men and women were a linked unit. The OP's newspaper clipping notably cites the example of a male subject, but it is not inconceivable that women took the Pearls as well.

Hirschfeld's connection to the Pearls was from their inception, and although it looks like snake oil from the perspective of 2016, hormonal treatment did seem to promise much in the 1920s. Insulin therapy for diabetes had begun in this decade and was already accruing results. While ingesting the reproductive organs of animals for virility has a long pedigree (it probably stretches back to prehistory- but that's a question for askanthropology!), Testifortan had a cloak of science around it and the actual workings of testosterone were not yet fully understood. Hirschfeld approached the Much AG's sale of the Pearls with a mixture of scientific humanism and mercenary self-interest. Licensing fees and royalties would help fund his own Institute. But his connection to the "degenerates" of Weimar meant that he was denied these royalties during the Third Reich, although Much AG continued to market and sell the Pearls (sans Hirschfeld in the advertising) through 1941 when shortages forced the end of production. Hirschfeld's hawking of the Pearls, and he tried to get a Swiss manufacturer after 1933, does tend to act as a blot on his reputation as a sexologist, but the interwar period was a golden age for gonadal replacement therapy when the science was new and the regulations minimal.

While I'm not sure of the impact of bovine hormones on human health, yohimbe does not appear to be a very safe substance. Web MD has a good overview of some of the potential problems associated with yohimbe and its derivatives. The US FDA has also periodically issued warnings to American manufacturers of yohimbe supplements that mirror the Ad Council's concerns about excessive claims and ignored health issues.

commiespaceinvader

Hey there!

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Thank you!