Dark History - 78: When Beauty Kills: Secrets of the Plastic Surgery | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

Episode Date: March 15, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. How old do you think plastic surgery is? I thought it started like 50/60 years ago. But then someone told me it started because of soldiers injured in WWI, GASP. But then someone else said that forms of plastic surgery had been around since before Jesus. I. Was. Shooketh. I needed to know more. So I started digging, and oooo baby.   In today’s episode, we get into the history of Plastic Surgery. How it started, why it started, and when it started.  And what does a dog with fake boobs have to do with it?? Episode Advertisers Include: Hello Fresh and Babbel. Learn more during the podcast about special offers!

Hi friends, how are you today? Are you having a wonderful day? I hope so. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my study and to my podcast, Dark History. Now if you're new here, this is a chance to tell a story like it is, and I don't just share the history of stuff we would never think about. I do all the thinking at like 2am, so don't worry, I got you covered. All I need you to do is sit back, relax, and just let me ramble on about all this stuff

I learned, because it's filled with so much hot, juicy, history, goss. History is juicy. It really is! They just overcomplicate it, right? They make it so complex so we don't understand it, but then when you break it down you're like, holy shit. I've had a lot of coffee today. Anyway, so let me tell you about today's episode. Now, I heard about this story a long time ago about this guy who married this woman, right? That's one does, the two of them decided to have kids. So that's exactly what they went on to do.

And after one of the babies was born, the man looks at this child and then looks at his wife and then looks at himself, you know, in the mirror, whatever, and he's like, what the hell is baby's ugly? This baby is ugly, and I know I sure as hell know he did not get it from me. So the sky he immediately accuses his wife of cheating on him because there's no way in hell that he could have fathered.

He could have made such an ugly child. This is facts, I'm telling you. Okay, it turns out his hunch was right. Like no, she wasn't cheating. She was actually hiding something. She had a big little secret. You see, he ends up suing her. He takes her to court.

And that's where he finds out that before the two had ever met, his wife had plastic surgery. Ugh. So not only was the child ugly, it was naturally ugly. THE ORDER! Having a naturally ugly child? Ah! Ah!

It was too much for these people to handle. Now here's the fun part. There's a hot debate whether this story is true or not. If you search the web, you'll come across this story, but you can't ever figure out if it's factual, I don't know. But all this plastic surgery talked just let me down the rabbit hole. You know, I mean, I'm sure there's something there

if you just go look in, so I did. And I was shocked to find out that plastic surgery has actually been around for a long time. I personally, I guess, that plastic surgery was new, er, you know, new-ish. But boy, was I wrong. Like, I'm sure Jesus was getting plastic surgery was new, er, you know, new-ish, but boy was I wrong. Like I'm sure Jesus was getting plastic surgery. Well, let me tell you what I learned. Great!

Joan, are you okay? Joan got breast implants as you can probably tell. She did need them. No shade, but you were a little flat. Look, I have to keep you in your place. You're becoming too gorgeous for this show. It's going straight to your head. Got jammed, Joan. Is that where you're spending all your money on tits? How are you going to fly with tits? Okay, look, people, us people have been

trying to upgrade ourselves since the dawn of time, really. Oh, yeah. Indian doctors in the sixth century were doing impressive nose surgeries before anyone else. But for some would say very different reasons. You see back in India during the five hundreds, yeah I'm talking about the five hundreds. If you broke the law, let's say maybe you did a little trees in. Maybe you committed adultery. I don't I'll slept around. Well, a really popular punishment was getting drumroll, please. Your nose chopped off. Yeah, that was a punishment. You will get your nose chopped off.

It was pretty effective, I guess. I'm not sure, but I imagine, right? So there are a lot of people wandering around this time with no noses. I never saw Harry Potter, but I'm being told it's giving like Lord Voldemort, what's his name? Him, it's giving him.

I guess he doesn't have a nose, I don't know. So criminals will get their noses chopped off, okay? And not only does this signal to the world that you're a criminal, but the recovery period was pretty brutal and it made life really hard for people all around. I don't know if you've heard this saying that, quote, necessity is the mother of invention,

end quote, but it really applies here because without this punishment, no jobs might never have been invented. So this doctor named Sue Shrutta is like, hey, don't worry, you guys, stop freaking out, I got you. And he goes off and invents a procedure that he calls the quote, Indian flap, end quote. Dr. Sue Shrutta would do something today that we call skin grafting. So he would take a flap of skin from like the patient's cheek,

drape it over the nose stump, and then keep it elevated, and in shape of a nose, until it healed. And, you know, while it's healing, they would be using tubes of castor oil to prop up the new skin. It was just this whole thing. But essentially, this guy invented skin grafting 500 years before Jesus turned water into wine. Now ain't that

something? I was like wow I'm done I learned enough here. Wow you know that's wild to think. I couldn't even imagine the year 500 BC. Could you? No. What was everyone- was there dinosaurs during this time? Don't answer that. Wow, what an icon this doctor was, huh? Seriously. Now, on top of all of this, Dr. Sue Shruta would give his patients a little dose of wine and something called

henbane to get them to fall asleep, them being the patient. So you're like, okay, great, wine and henbane, what the hell is that? Well, henbane is cannabis indica. The devil's lettuce, just kidding. But yeah, so they would get high and they would get to drink some wine

and then they would wake up with hopefully a new nose, you know? Now, all of Sushrutas methods were written down in Sanskrit, which is an ancient Indian language that not a lot of people outside of India were speaking. So all of his medical achievements were totally unknown outside of India. But word of mouth spread, and by the 16th century, Italian doctors started performing similar reconstructive techniques. But things didn't really hit until the 1700s when India and England were at war. That's when some British surgeons heard a story that left them shooketh to the core.

There are these four men that were captured, okay? And all four of these men had their noses cut off by the opposing army. Well, they came back a year later, the same for men, with noses. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It had people all sorts of confused because everyone's like, I know a nose does not grow like a lizard tail. So they decide to investigate. And that's when soldiers came across an Indian surgeon who was still following Sushuta's techniques.

He's laying layers of gauze with a, quote, quote, cement mixture on top of that new nose, which they shaped with wax, and then they slowly wait for it all to harden. The patient has to lay on their back for about five to six days after the operation to make sure, again, gravity helped keep everything in place. But this procedure, according to the doctors, was, quote, always successful and looked nearly as well as the natural nose. And quote, honestly, I saw a picture.

They kind of look like Squidward afterwards. You see it, if you don't, Squidward. But hey, it had to start somewhere, you know, like, hey,. You see it, if you don't, Squidward. But hey, it had to start somewhere, you know, like, hey, you know, it worked. And it was better than nothing, I'm sure. And it made them feel better, I think. And look, the procedure itself was just really advanced for the time. And the British were blown away, okay? Now, especially back in England, a whole lot of people are noseless at this time, but not for the same reason.

There are noseless for a different reason. Yeah, people got misinoses during this time. Just everyone's nose was missing for some weird reason. We are so lucky we have our noses today. I don't know what it is, but they are the first to go. Okay, I don't know. What is that? I don't know.

Do you guys know what really wears down your nose, cartilage? If you answered cocaine, yes, but another enemy to your nose is also syphilis. Oh, yeah, syphilis. That STD, what does that have to do with your nose? I don't know, but it causes a problem. Europe was getting just pounded with a real bad epidemic of syphilis. And a little known side effect of syphilis is that it basically destroys the soft tissue in your nose. Yes, random. So a lot of people were walking around with gaping holes in the middle of their faces where their noses used to be.

And just like back in India, there was a social stigma tied to it. If you had a hole for a nose, honestly the people were like, oh, you're, she's a dirty little hussy, isn't she? But with a British accent. So when those British doctors came back to Europe with that nose job situation, I mean, it was perfect timing. By the late 1700s, there was a search in nasal reconstructive surgeries,

whether you had lost your nose to syphilis, frostbite, or by breaking rules in India, there was now a way to get your nose back. I mean, that's huge. Well, sometimes we really come together, don't we? I don't know who's we, but never mind. Now for reconstructive surgery, the goal here was to get back to the way you looked before the syphilis had pretty much stolen your nose.

Not necessarily for like an upgraded, quote, unquote, upgraded you. So it kind of makes sense that the next big wave of advancements in plastic surgery happens after World War One. That was a bee. Now, get this, after World War One. This is like a time when weapons were getting more advanced. Soldiers' faces were getting torn apart from exploding shells that were filled with shrapnel. Basically, shards of razor-sharp metal that could rip your face clean off. All the way off.

So there's this wave of soldiers coming home from war with just horrible wounds, holes in their faces, missing eyes, and a lot, even missing their noses. Usually, if you came back looking, disfigured, it was hard to get a job because, you know, at the time, a lot of people didn't want to hire someone that was maybe uncomfortable to look at. And that was just the reality at the time.

Like, obviously, not great, right? Yeah. So a lot of these men coming home, serving the country, were having trouble finding work, making money, and just like really getting back into normal life. Even men who had reconstructive work done overseas were terrified of coming home, and perhaps being rejected by their loved ones because they looked different. Now, this man, Harold Gilles, a surgeon from New Zealand, he was seeing how much like these soldiers were struggling and decided to do something about it. In 1917, he builds a hospital in England exclusively for facial reconstruction,

and this is where he starts experimenting with how to best give soldiers their old faces back. Gillies has a major breakthrough by creating a new technique when it comes to skin grafting and becomes famous, pretty much, as the father of plastic surgery. Now he was doing something no one else was doing. And from this point on, I mean it was like the dawn of plastic surgery as we know it. Pretty soon, doctors and even non-doctors are realizing there's a pretty penny to be made in the market of facial and body reconstruction. They were put in all kinds of things

in people's bodies to try and fill war holes and patch those shrapnel wounds. If you were getting reconstructive surgery in the early 1900s, your wounds could be packed with anything from wool. Yes, wool, wool, ox, cartilage, sponges, polyester, ivory. The one that I got hung up on was glass. Yeah, they would use glass as like a filler. Oh, could you imagine? Like don't run into any hard corners. It's over for you. They even used ground up rubber from time to time. A lot of trial and error, honestly. But eventually, doctors are like, hey, this looks pretty good.

And because Dr. Gilley's had been doing such great work with soldiers, he was making cosmetic surgery not only well known, but socially acceptable. Now this next thing is not technically considered plastic surgery. It's kind of like a workaround to plastic surgery. And it's something that many thought was invented in the modern day, but it's much older than you think. And I'm talking about fillers. Yeah.

Fillers are something you inject into your skin to smooth out or add volume to an area. And when fillers enter the chat, the lines between plastic and cosmetic procedures. Now they get a little blurry. Traditional plastic surgery was all about getting the patient back to how they looked and function before, like those soldiers and syphilis patients. And it was related to your health. But now for some people, it was seen as an option to do something cosmetic. AKA, this is now your opportunity to take your looks to the next level. Back in the day, doctors were using all sorts of wild materials for fillers.

There's a story of a man in the late 1800s who got sick with tuberculosis. That's a hard one for me to say. And unfortunately, he ended up getting some kind of rare complication where the tuberculosis messed with his testicles. Yeah, yeah, the body's weird. And he ended up having to be castrated, AKA, they chopped off one of his balls to save him,

which totally sucks though, right? What, yeah. Yeah, losing a part of your body, bummer. When he went to the doctor to fix it, they told him that they had just the thing to help. A petroleum-based product called Vaseline. Yeah, Vaseline. Now the doctor's theory here was that the Vaseline would be injected

as a liquid and then once it adjusted to the body's internal temperature, it would turn into the perfect ball-like consistency. Now my mind was like, oh my god, that sounds nice, like a stress ball. Just a ball of Vaseline, that sounds nice. Like I could see where they thought, you know, they were on to something. I would squeeze that ball. And get this, it actually, it worked for a while. But the Vaseline filler didn't seem to stay in place. Apparently Vaseline back then would melt at a temperature of 65 degrees.

Our bodies internal temperature is like 98 degrees, like the boy band. So it wasn't going to work out. I mean, they couldn't figure this out before they injected it into a human testicle. I guess that was them finding out. Now, I got to learn somewhere. Well anyways, the Vaseline, it wasn't going to work. So doctors had to figure something else out. Now, I gotta learn somewhere. Well anyways, the Vaseline, it wasn't gonna work, so doctors had to figure something else out. And that's when the 1920s rolled around, and doctors pivot to another patrolling-em-based

substance that seemed much better than Vaseline. They switched over to something called paraffin. Now, if that sounds familiar to you, it's probably because you've been to the nail salon. And they're like, do you want your hands all smooth and stuff, and they do that paraffin wax treatment? And you could dip your feet in, your hands in, and then add heart ins, and then you take it off and all your skin is so smooth. Yeah, that stuff. Look, I mean, plastic surgeons thought they struck a gold mine. Okay, the melting temperature was supposed to be higher than Vaseline and paraffin injections could help even more medical issues,

like painful hernias. But the reason paraffin was popular wasn't because of hernias. Let's be real, it was because it was also, for a while, an effective cosmetic filler. Women were now seeing doctors to get fillers in their cheeks, breasts, and noses. And men were even coming in to get filler in their penises to make them larger. Yeah, they were getting dick filler. Hot.

Doctors and patients reported amazing results basically right away. And Paraphan injection was the most popular technique for the first 20 years of the 20th century. And there was just one catch of course. The Paraphan, it was basically poison for your body. Yeah, we bathed in it. Whoops, again, life. Woo! There was this woman named Gladys Deacon,

a French American Dutchess whose life was ruined because of paraffin fillers. Now Gladys was a babe, allegedly. Men loved her, she was known for her beauty, her wealth, her status. And when she was in her 20s, she wanted to have a little procedure done to make her even more beautiful. Just, but naturally, right? Enhanced a little, but doesn't nobody need to know? You know, she just wanted a little filler put into her nose because, you know, it bothered her a little bit. And that was it. No one was gonna know. Bye. Unfortunately though, it didn't come out

like she had hoped for. And she became one of the most famous examples of what paraffin injection complications looked like. I guess the filler from her nose somehow made its way down to her chin. And she developed a condition called paraffinomas, which made her face, I guess, swell up. Now this can happen when the body detects

something foreign is in the body and tries to get rid of it. So it causes your body to inflame and lumps would form all around the para-phen. Now Gladys developed more of these swollen patches and lumps into the para-phenomas basically took over her entire face. She spent the rest of her life hiding from her reflection. She didn't even allow any

mirrors in her home. And she literally, it's not funny, it's uncomfortable. And she literally died, sad and alone. Well, shit, you know, fuck. Hey, what's that sin? Vanity. Oh, this is about, Hey, what's that sin? Vanity. Ooh, this is about, yeah, that. Great. I forget how the seven deadly sins work, but I think this is one of them. Sorry, girl. That sucks. I'm looking at you, girl. There have been even worse paraphernalythin filler complications reported, like it causing blood clots in the brain or even the lungs. And even if people didn't get a reaction right away, they might get a deadly infection later on. Back then, there was really no way to get paraffin filler out of your body. So you just had to sit and deal with it. But still, thanks to all of the horrors, horrors of World War II, plastic surgery persevere.

Plastic surgeons don't only cater to the duchesses of the world, they also helped change people's lives. Like, for example, a man named Dr. Maxwell Mates. When Dr. Mates was just an intern at a hospital, he had an experience that would shape him for the rest of his professional life. You see what happened was he was helping out with like the delivery of a newborn baby. When the parents first laid eyes on their newborn, they were shooketh. The baby was born with a cleft lip.

A cleft lip is a gap we're opening in the front lip area. Now, the parents were devastated to see this. Now back then, people generally thought that babies who are born looking different than everyone else, it was actual evidence that God was pissed at you for sinning. Even if it was like a sin from 20 years ago, God was gonna mess up your baby.

Dr. Mates realized his calling in life was to help these innocent little babies and other people who may have suffered because society treated them differently for their appearance. And in the 1920s, plastic surgery was still a procedure, mostly for people who medically needed it, and it was considered a noble profession to really help people. As a medicine and surgery technique got better over the years, it was normal to the upper class people all of sudden.

It was all about the rich women getting nose jobs, not because they needed them, but because they wanted them. And this is when the switch happens. Dr. Mates describes the switch by saying, quote, I could whisk new noses out of air. Just about everything lay within the compass of my magical power. He was very high of himself. Dr. Meats' appointment bookings were filling up with no jobs and fillers and whatever else, making him forget why he got into the practice in the first place.

It's always because money ruins everything. Once people start making tons of money, it's like, he's like, nah, fuck what I was gonna do. I'm gonna do this now. I don't blame him, but like, so sucks, you know? At this point, like, people were going from, I wanna look, quote unquote, normal to, I wanna look perfect.

More everyday people were starting to get interested in the procedures, but we're feeling a little hesitant. So, plastic surgery kind of got a little rebrand. People started referring to plastic surgery as beauty enhancements. And this terminology made it seem less extreme and more like putting cucumbers over your eyes and just relaxing in the sun. Another doctor, his name is Dr. John Howard Crum,

took everything one step further, and started telling women that facelifts were the new it thing to do. Everyone needed a facelift, and honestly, they shouldn't be afraid of it because the procedure was, quote, no big deal. Dr. Crumb wanted to prove this to the people. So on May 26, 1921, Dr. Crumb performs a facelift procedure to the public. Oh yeah, I would watch for sure. This was the first public facial surgery ever. There was a full-on audience, like it was a major sporting event. There was over 1,500 people who showed up to like see what the fuss was all about.

And at first, this doctor, Dr. Crumb, planned to perform the procedure behind a white screen, you know, so like people could see the shadows of what was happening, but not have to deal with all the gourd of it, you know. But shortly after, he was about to start, the crowd was basically shouting at him to pull down the screen. They want to see it all. Pull down the screen to pull down the screen. They want to see it all. Pull down the screen. Pull down the screen. Pull and he was like, okay bitches, he pulls it down. Revealing he was performing surgery on a veteran film actress Martha Patel, which is actually

quite the reveal. Like at first you just think he's like working with some normal, quote, quote, normal person giving her a facelift, but he was working on a film actress. So people are like, oh my god. Like Martha. I love the movie you were in, girl. You know, it's just so everyone is just like, what? Anyways, at this point, Martha had only beginning, like, roles as, quote, quote, like the mother in films.

And she really wanted to go back to her leading lady days. So she's like, like the mother in films. And she really wanted to go back to her leading lady days. So she's like, get rid of those wrinkles, you know, lift, tighten. I want that youth back. But this wasn't just your standard operation. Hey, Dr. Crumb's surgery would have class ambience and maybe even a little bit of fun. As Dr. Crumb applied the anesthetic to Martha's face, a whole ass orchestra started playing jazz in the background. Yeah, seriously.

And during the whole thing, Martha was awake. It's too much. Even though Martha's face was numb, because it was, she was chatting it up with her daughter. She was talking to the doctor. Ha! Honestly, iconic. Okay, and you know, people are watching this. And some women were just so into it, they're like, oh my god, I need this. I love this. Let me see what's

going to happen next. And then there were other women who just straight up fainted during the surgery. But either way, it was a success to Dr. Kram. And after he was done with the surgery, Martha showed the crowd her freshly tightened and lifted face. And it must have looked pretty good because Dr. Crum went on to have a very successful career. At some point, women just weren't happy with getting filler or facelift. I mean, I want more, Taty! How'd I do? Give me more, Taty!

I suck at accents. Anyways, but women are wanting more. Okay, more and more and more and more and more. We're never happy. This goes for us as people. We're never happy. We just want more and more and more. So this is when boobies enter the chat. The year is 1895.

Dr. Vincent's journey is a surgeon making waves over in Germany. He was actually considered by those who knew him as a miracle worker. A few years before, he made history by performing the world's first complete hysterectomy and was able to remove the uterus of women struggling with vaginal health issues. You know, women throughout history, still now, were suffering from all sorts of vaginal issues like heavy bleeding and different types of cancer. So this guy, he starts to get a reputation as like the man to go to if you had any sort of lady problem. Well, okay, look, so remember him.

And then right across town, there was this woman couldn't find her name, okay? Sorry. She was 41 years old and she was a singer professionally. Her job, you know, get up into seeing and to perform on stage every night. Well, there was this one day where she felt some pain in her left titty, so she lifted up her shirt and then she saw lots of swelling. She was like devastating for any woman. Obviously she was worried.

So she goes and she sees Dr. Chirney. And Chirney gets her up on the exam table, asks her to lift her shirt and he starts to examine. So he does this thing, blibra blub, and it doesn't take long for him to discover a tumor in her left breast. So she's talking with a doctor, Dr. Chirney, about her options, and she agrees to have her entire breast removed. That was really the best option for her. So for this performer, she was nervous as hell because there was a real possibility that the procedure could leave her

disfigured. And honestly, losing a breast in general, it's got to be heart breaking. I mean, that's your right or die, your side chick. It's a loss. I mean, could this ruin her reputation as a performer? She's just all sorts of worried. So she's feeling very desperate. And the doctor and Dr. Cherny can see this. And he's dead set on helping her.

So after examining her body again, the doctor ends up finding a fatty tumor about the size of an apple on the right side of her lower back. I know poor girl, she's got like tumors all over the place, but Dr. Churney sees these tumors as an opportunity. This is exactly when he has his little light bulb moment that would change the breast forever. Dr. Churney puts her on the operating table, removes the tumor from her breast, and then he removes the apple-sized tumor on her lower back. But instead of tossing it into the trash, he tanks the fatty tumor and inserts it into the woman's breast. He soars her up and tada!

Brand new, Tinny. I know it sounds bad, because it's like, wait, did he just swap a tumor for another tumor? Like, that can't be good. But the lower back one wasn't cancerous. It was just a fatty lump, so the doctor concluded it wouldn't hurt her. And this idea of using actual body tissue to reconstruct a breast was groundbreaking. It was the first documented breast augmentation surgery.

This was so groundbreaking, Dr. Churning was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Not once, but three times in their early 1900s. But sadly his important work in the field of boob jobs was overlooked. For some reason he just kept losing to people like the guy who found the cure for syphilis. Or like there was another guy who invented some big cure. Boo. Poor guy, he didn't win. Anyways, up to this point, boob jobs were mainly used to help women who needed it, like in the case of the German singer. But then the 1940s roll around and there is a big

cultural shift. The era of the pinup girl pops off. Pinup girls were like posters of sexy Hollywood actresses that soldiers from World War II would hang up on their walls and just like, drool over. And all these posters featured sexy ladies with a large chest, maybe, I don't know. In this caring through to win Playboy magazine first hit shelves everywhere in 1953, women with curves and shapes were now like the envy of women nationwide. Curves and round boobies are being embraced.

And more women wanted to embrace it too. I mean, Paddy Bros were not cutting it anymore, and women wanted the real thing, but not. Like, how can I get the real thing but like not? And science wasn't quite ready to supply that demand. That is, Until a couple of doctors in Texas, of course, Texas, with the help of a major corporation and a dog with boobs come into play. Oh yeah, a dog with boobs. You got that right? That was my reba impression. That's not that right. That was my re-butt impression.

I'm, I hate me. Why can't I ever say what I feel? Okay, now we're in the year 1961. And down in the lone stars, state, two doctors are about to prove that everything is, in fact, bigger in Texas. They really went off. Dr. Thomas Cronin, a plastic surgeon, was at like a conference in New

Orleans and while he's there learning about all the new improvements happening in the world of plastic surgery, that's when he comes across a company named Dow Cronin Corporation. Do you know the Dow Corporation? Yeah, those goons. It's them. Small world, right? Anyway, Kronin learns that the chemical company, Dow, told him you'd do an episode on them, had created something called silicone gel. And the company proudly claimed that not only could it be used to make an artificial body part, but it also did not react with the body.

Translation, it was safe to put inside a person. Yay, you know, yay. A chemical company making a safe substance in the body translation, it was safe to put inside a person. Yay, you know, yay. A chemical company making a safe substance in the 60s? Sure. Okay. All right. Anyways, as the story goes, Dr. Frank Giro, Cronin's business partner, stopped by a blood bank in Texas.

When he walked inside, Giro was surprised because he found blood being stored in plastic IV bags. I know, now this is normal to us. Okay, listen, we're like, yeah, and but back then everything was stored in glass. So he's seeing this and he's like, weird. So he picks one up, he gives it a little... Hong Kong, you know. He looks around, he's like, hey guys, does this feel like a boob to you?

Or is it just me? A couple of those like boob. So this doctor. Yeah, he's a doctor. He guys, does this feel like a boob to you? Where's it just to me? It feels like a boob. So this doctor, yeah, he's a doctor. He's like, this feels like a boob. He's feeling inspired because he ends up getting in touch with Dr. Kronin and he proposes the idea of a breast and plant that feels exactly like the blood in a bag.

Yeah, he's like, yeah, you see it? So the two brainstorm and agree that the content of the bag needed to be thicker than blood, but something that replicates the feel of a boob. And girl Kronin had just the thing. He's like, that's funny. I heard about silicone, whatever, just about a minute ago. So the doctors partner up with the head of Dow Kronin's

medical research division. And the three of them create a thin, clear bag filled with silicone gel. They call it the Cronin-Gurro implant, aka the silicone breast implant. Wow, pioneer. So they got this prototype, and I'm sure they're probably fondling it and giggling, you know. And then they realize that they have a little situation on their hands. Oh, no, wait, a situation.

Ah, okay, they may be honest something here, but they have to test the implant and make sure it works before getting all too excited. They're probably looking at each other like, I'm not doing it and then the other guy's like, I'm not doing it either, like mm-hmm. So they come back to the drawing board. Hmm, who could they test this silicone breast on it and the other guy is like, I'm not doing it either. Like, mm-hmm. So they come back to the drawing board. Hmm.

Who could they test this silicone breast on or in, really? They look around the room and they spot a dog. A dog sitting in the corner. Her name is Morralda. And boy, does she look like she needs some titties? Hey, am I right? Yeah. Now this next part is going to sound made up, okay?

I know, but I'm telling you it's 100% true. I swear. Okay, look. These guys, these doctors, decided poor innocent as Maralda, the dog, was going to be their guinea pig. She was going to try out the very first fake silicone titty. So the doctors put as Maralda on their operating table, knocked her out, made an incision

and put a biscuit-sized silicone implant inside the dog. They sewed her up and then observed her for a few days. When I heard this, I pictured like, look, I pictured in my mind a cute-ass little dog with some fine- ass titties. Right? Like, that's what I'm picturing in my mind. And I was like, I don't know for sure what it looks like.

So we asked our googling around and there's not one single photo out there, but lucky for us, we have an artist rendering of what Esmeralda may or may not have looked like. See, is that night? I was right. Those are some fine-ass diddies. So the doctors observed Esmeralda over some time and they noticed absolutely nothing. And that's exactly what they were hoping for. Esmeralda seemed fine and she showed like no adverse side effects. I mean, to be fair dogs can't talk. seemed to find and she showed no adverse side effects. I mean, to be fair, dogs can't talk.

I mean, for all we know, she could've been like, hey, this is extremely painful, but we don't know. The doctors reported that they would have kept the implant in longer if Esmeralda didn't try to choose through her stitches. Poor Esmeralda, you know, shoot. And then I got me wondering, I wonder what happened to her really. I mean, if you know her whereabouts, you know? Shoot. And then I got me wondering, I wonder what happened to her really?

I mean, if you know her whereabouts, please let me know. I mean, Esmeralda walked so we really could run, put some respect on her name, right? You have those titties because of Esmeralda. She needs something, an award. Anyway, so this was a huge success in the doctor's eyes. But what they really need to prove their invention was legit was a human to test this out on. And that's when Timmy

Jean Lindsay walks into Giro's office. So in 1962, Timmy Jean was 29 years old. She had recently become divorced. And Timmy, you know, she had this whirlwind romance with her boyfriend and wanted to celebrate their love with a big old tattoo. And then I guess a few days after she got it, that's when she realized like, oh shit, I shouldn't have gone in this tattoo. So Timmy Jean marched her ass to the hospital to have it removed. And wouldn't you know it, she was seen by our good old buddy, Dr. Girro. He could tell Timmy was like kind of desperate and maybe a little vulnerable.

So he ends up offering her a once in a lifetime opportunity to get a free pair of boobies. She's like, where do I sign? All she had to do was sign a few waivers agreeing to be their first human guinea pig for the silicone implant. I guess Timmy had like negotiated with them and is like, hey while I'm under can you do my ears too? Pin them back I think. And they agree. And before you know it, Timmy gets a quote

unquote free, boob job. Actually, I mean it's pretty scary. You know, this is the first time anyone's ever done this. No one has a silica. It's it's a lot, I don't know how she's feeling, but I would imagine it's pretty scary. But good for her, good for her. So in Timmy Jean woke up, she said it felt like an entire elephant was sitting on her chest. And I guess this is where that famous phrase, beauty, as pain comes from, because she looked great. And the two doctors couldn't have been happier with what they called their masterpiece. And by 1964, the Dow Corning Company began marketing the implant to the whole public with an eight years, 50,000 implants were sold.

And this launched an entire new industry and the money was rolling in. In the 70s, the breast implant industry took off like a freaking rocket ship. First of all, 88% of all implants sold at this time were that cronin-yero-silicon implant, and these were selling fast because boob jobs were affordable as hell in the 70s. A breast implant would cost around $4,000, which was considered affordable as hell in the 70s. And this meant that the middle- ladies too could have, you know, a new pair of

a new pair. Just a new pair, a new pair. I mean boobs were all the rage. They were everywhere. So this leads to what experts describe as a breast implant free for all in the 1980s. Almost no one was concerned about the safety of the of the silicone bags sitting in women's bodies for years. I mean, they gotta go bad at some point, right? But doctors, calendars were filling up and filling up fast. One doctor said, quote, twins would come in, sisters would come in, and I'd go from one room to another performing surgeries.

Another surgeon said the most breast implant surgeries he performed in one day was 17. That's a lot of boobs. In one day, I don't know if that's possible. I think he's lying. And probably cut some corners. Anyways, that same doctor said by 1986, he was having what he called, quote, grand teton days a few times a month. The grand teton, because I was like, what does that even mean? Our mountains in Wyoming. So I guess this was his cute way of saying, you know, he was putting mountains on women's chests. I don't know. Honestly, it just gave me a reason to sing, you know, Shakira. Look at that my best starch, maul and humble. So you don't confuse them with mountains. Hahaha, it goes something like that. Hey la la la, ho la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la They were like, oh, how far we've come, huh? Meanwhile, downcarning corporation,

and all the doctors too, though, I just don't just put it on them. But everyone was telling patients they had nothing to worry about when it came to their silicone implants, they're safe and better yet, the last forever. You know, some BS like that. But over the years, no surprise here,

it turns out that they weren't safe, and they were not probably going to last forever. Because in 1991, a woman won $7.3 million in a lawsuit case against Dow Corning because her implants broke open inside of her body and caused a painful, permanent immune system disease. But that wouldn't slow down the demand. By 1992, breast augmentation procedures were bringing in $500 million for some doctors,

and about two million women had gotten them done by this point. Man, I would have been a breast doctor for sure. But the party comes to an end when hundreds of lawsuits are filed against Dow Corning, claiming their silicone booby were actually causing tons of health problems. In 1998, Dow Corning agreed to pay $3.2 billion to settle lawsuits from 170,000 women who

said they got extremely sick from their silicone breast implants. So many people who claim to have gotten sick from these implants presented a long list of illnesses they believe the implants were causing. I'm talking from things like lupus and other life-changing autoimmune and brain diseases. Dowcourning does not agree their implants caused these health issues, but when a company pays out $3.2 billion, I think that says something else.

My guys, with all this bad press, Silicon implants fell out of popularity in the late 1990s, making way for the new and improved saline-rest implants. I'll say lean is essentially just a mixture of salt and water, and it's said to be much safer for the body, if it happens to open up a lake. But in 2006, silicone really made a comeback. The FDA approved two new silicone styles that made breasts look even more natural than the Baywatch era of the 90s. So of course, people once again started getting them. And here's a little public service announcement.

Even though breast implants don't expire, they are not supposed to last forever. The average saline or silicone implant lasts anywhere from 10 to 20 years. So I'm sure you've heard of this because I've heard of this too. Like a lot of people with breast implants have me getting really sick. We'll just make sure you keep an eye on that shit.

Okay, that's all I can tell you. Cause I don't have breast implants. So it's like, I don't know. I feel like I can't really, but just keep an eye on it,. Okay? That's all I can tell you because I don't have breast implants so it's like I don't know. I feel like I can't really. But just keep an eye on it, will you? Okay. Great. So now, now where are we? Well, with the rise of like reality TV and Instagram models having the perfect body became or felt like almost like a requirement for some people, especially when you would see online the perfect butt, or chest, or lips,

or hair, or just getting hundreds of thousands of likes on social media. I mean, stack this on top of getting a boob job, getting a facelift, fillers, it starts to cost an insane amount of money to keep all this up. I mean, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that 15.6 million cosmetic procedures were done in 2020 alone. Hey, I thought we were on lockdown. What were you guys all doing? Getting procedures done? Smart. I didn't think of that. I mean, this got me thinking like, what do you think this says for the future of cosmetic surgery? And this circle back to the original story we led with, should you have to disclose to your partner that you've had facial surgery or something,

if you have, like, does that matter? I don't think it would, but then I don't know, that guy up top, it mattered to him. Anyways, lots of thoughts here, you know? Plastic surgery can really be whatever you want it to be. I mean, the whole reason it started was to help people feel better in their own skin, right? And that's great. We love that. And then it became an upgrade or seen as an enhancement, a chance for people to look however they desired, which also love.

In my research, I came across Dr. Suzanne Noel, who is considered the world's first female plastic surgeon. And she also created different plastic surgery techniques in the 1920s, and even compared a woman's right to get cosmetic surgery to a woman's right to vote. She said, quote, that every woman should be able to have a youthful appearance and be able to choose their own destiny as they see fit, end quote.

Snaps, I'm sorry for making fun of you, John. You can add those titties. Fly high with those titties, John. So it's just be funny if you're like minding your own business and you look up and you see this bird with titties. Like, I don't know, John, but that's a choice. You know, go for you.

I'm glad you're living your truth. Anyways, so yeah, like much of history, there's always two sides to this. No matter how flat you make a pancake, there's always two sides. Look, I don't like Dr. Phil all that much, but that's a one thing. I'm like, okay, Dr. Phil, you slap.

Because that's so true. No matter how fat you make a pancake, there's always two sides. I hate that. Anyways, so now some see the plastic surgery industry as like taking advantage of women's insecurities, but others like Dr. Noel see the choice to get plastic surgery as empowering.

So get plastic surgery or don't get plastic surgery, either way, do what you want. Do what you choose in life. Just remember, do your research when it comes to doctors. But most of all, remember this, a new face will not change your shitty attitude. Fix yourself inside too, okay? Awesome.

Well, everyone, thank you for learning with me today. And remember, don't be afraid to ask questions and get the whole story because it's fun. I think learning is actually quite nice. Now I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to this story, so make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along. Also, join me over on my YouTube channel, where you can watch these episodes on Thursday, after the podcast airs. And while you're there, also check out my murder mystery makeup. It's always a good time too. I hope you have a great rest of your day. You make good choices, and I'll be talking to you next week. Our history is an

audio boom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junior McNeely from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Claire Turner from Maiden Network. Writers, Katie Burr's, Alison Filobo's, Joey Skuluso, and me, Bailey Sarian. Shot and edited by Tafad Swah, Nimmeroundway, and Hannah Bacher. Research provided by the Dark History Researcher team, a special thank you to our expert, Emily Yuki Takayama, and I'm your host, Bailey Sharyan! And that's Joan, and that's Paul, or Paul, he needs to make over. Joan, I'm so excited to get your bandages removed. I can't wait to see those titties flying high in the sky. You're gonna be like, oh, is that a bird with tits? I'm like, yeah, I know

her. She's like, I know. We could like touch them because they'll be swinging me fly. It'll be swinging me fly. It'll be fun.