PART I: Who Was Dr. Herbert M. Shelton?
A Dr. Herbert M. Shelton TimeLine
all trades: child sitter and housekeeper, School custodian and groundskeeper for the School. And Dr. Shelton, himself, is often found changing beds and scrubbing floors. By 1932, Dr. Shelton is lecturing internationally with hundreds attending his events. He undertakes wide tours, across The Nation, speaking nightly throughout the week, sometimes for as many as 7 hours of teaching in one stint. These lecture circuits will continue for the next 20 years in full force and then taper off as the effects of Dr. Shelton's workaholism take their toll on his nervous system and finally incapacitate his entire body. In 1932, Dr. Shelton is jailed repeatedly, always for "practicing medicine without a license" or for "lecturing and prescribing medicine," always with a fine imposed, and always released. Finally, he is found guilty and given 30 days in Rycker's Prison for violating the Medical Practice Act. Young Dr. Esser takes over Dr. Shelton's practice. And Shelton uses the time for fasting and continued work on his manuscripts.
1934 The 7 Volume Set known as "The Hygienic System," is put into print, from 1934 onward: The titles focus on the following: Orthobionomics (Economics of Correct Living), Orthotrophy (Nutrition and Food Combining), Fasting, Orthokinesiology (Corrective Exercise), Orthogenetics (Sexual Correctness), Diseases, and Orthopathy (Correction of Specific Diseases).
1935 More books are put into print by Dr. Shelton: Syphilis: Werewolf of Medicine and The Exploitation of Human Suffering.
1939 After 2 previous attempts to publish a magazine, both of which fold within a year, Dr. Shelton's Hygienic Review, is published. This particular magazine is inspired by Dr. Tilden's little periodical. The Review is intended to continually teach The People about The 7 Stages of Disease, to remind them of the health hazards of taking any medications, to warn them about the dangerous practices of The Medicine Men, to thoroughly expose them to "The Basic Requisites of Life", and to initiate them into the strange and new world of... "Health by Healthful Living!" with such a fervor that they are excited to spread the revolutionary word! Yearly subscriptions for the 24 to 32 pages a month are $1.oo. Most of The Hygienic Review is written exclusively by Dr. Shelton, although in later years, he did bring in more authors, all of whom he carefully edited. A strict advertising policy of Pure Hygiene is instituted, but few advertisements are taken in the first place. At its height, Dr. Shelton's Hygienic Review went out to 1,900 Health Seekers. And the little magazine never turned a profit. Following is Dr. Shelton's own statement about his Review: "The monthly visit of the Review to one's home should serve as a strong support. Wherever you are, you should not fail to acquaint the people with whom you come into contact, with the better and more healthful way of life. Let your light shine into all dark corners and do so without fear. All the progress that has ever been made has been made by breaking with tradition and branching out into new and untrodden fields. Humankind is subject to the law of inertia. Men and women do not progress: they are pulled along. The few drive the many along behind The Chariot of Progress. Every Hygienist should get into The Chariot as a driver!" Dr. Shelton continually made essay statements on the inside of the front cover of each Review for subscriptions, participations, and donations to fan the fires of The Health Revolution. In answering the calling of picking up Dr. Shelton's Torch, I have added "Great American" to the term you so often see in the rhetoric of GetWellHStayWell, America!: "The Great American Health Revolution!"
1940 Dr. J.H. Tilden, who is best known for "The 7 Stages of Disease" paradigm presented in his most famous book, Toxemia Explained, dies at age 89. He is the last, living link with The 19 Century Pioneers of Hygiene. The work of the resuscitation and promulgation of Hygiene now falls entirely on the shoulders of Doctors Shelton, Claunch, Esser, and Gian-Cursio. Claunch dies in 1946 and Gian-Cursio in the last few
