Advertising in chiropractic, 1939-1944: an introspective look at the early years of the Chirogram.

The Chirogram was a popular and widespread chiropractic journal that was reborn in 1939 and lasted for 40 years. With 8,000 copies circulated for the debut May 1939 issue, the journal grew steadily to 11,000 copies per month by December 1944. As one of the largest journals of its time, the Chirogram was well supported by vendors that supplied chiropractors with products and services. By reviewing the advertisements, one can see through the eyes of early doctors; they saw the trends, fads, common remedies and popular treatments of the time. A manual search was conducted through the Chirogram from May 1939 to December 1944, and the advertisements were organized into categories. Each of the vendors were recorded and tallied for the year and month that they appeared. This quantitative study utilizes frequency counts and graphs of the data to provide insight into trends in advertising and practice styles of chiropractors in the early 1940s and relate them to then current events in the United States.