Dr. John R. Brinkley
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
North Carolina native John R. Brinkley (1885-1942) opened a medical clinic and radio station in Kansas and promoted controversial medical practices, including one that used goat gland implants to increase sexual "pep" in men. He became rich but was criticized by the American Medical Association and the Federal Radio Commission. In 1933, he moved his family to Del Rio, opening a hospital and setting up the powerful radio station XER in Villa Acuña, Mexico. He was a colorful, charitable individual, known for his lavish lifestyle. He buoyed the local economy during the Great Depression and brought much attention to Del Rio. Despite fame and wealth, authorities shut down the Brinkley enterprise in 1938. (2004)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
John R. Brinkley made a fortune peddling dubious cures — most infamously goat-gland surgery marketed to restore men's vigor — and pioneered the use of radio to reach a mass audience. Hounded by the American Medical Association and federal regulators, he relocated to Del Rio in 1933 and beamed his message across the country from a powerful 'border blaster' station just over the line in Mexico. Flamboyant and free-spending, he pumped money into the local economy during the Great Depression before authorities finally shut his operation down in 1938.
Why it matters
Brinkley's border-radio empire helped invent modern broadcast advertising and the medical-huckster celebrity, and stands as a Depression-era case study in the limits of regulating the airwaves.
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