If it ducks like a quack

The story of Norman Baker’s sham cancer hospital is one of Eureka’s most often told and a highlight of the Crescent Hotel’s nightly ghost tour.

I recently finished the chapter about Baker for my upcoming book, Welcome to Eureka Springs: The I-Sh*t-You-Not History of America’s Quirkiest Town.

While doing research, I stumbled across the 1937 RKO Pictures newsreel that warned moviegoers nationwide about the “notorious quack.” The fascinating short film was a response to Baker’s first hospital, in Muscatine, Iowa.

My chapter about Baker will go into more detail about the shocking and repulsive practices of both “hospitals.” (Yes, I know I’m teasing you. But I didn’t even hear some of this stuff on the ghost tour. Yes, I know I’m still doing it. Carbolic acid with a hint of peppermint, anyone?)

The part of the newsreel directly criticizing Baker starts at 4:06.