For those who appreciate the stranger corners of American pop culture, Sunday’s Collector’s Call on Me-TV looks like a deep dive into medical oddities and marketing marvels. Airing at 6:30 PM ET, the episode, titled David Meinz: Pharmaceuticals (Season 6, Episode 11), introduces registered dietitian nutritionist David Meinz and his peculiar collection centered on vitamin history.
Hosted by Lisa Whelchel of The Facts of Life fame, the series consistently digs up the weird, wonderful, and sometimes outright bizarre items people hold dear. Meinz’s collection appears to tick all those boxes, with a spread that includes everything from early twentieth-century “quack cures” to questionable weight-loss contraptions.
We are talking about products like LaMar Reducing Soap and Trim Reducing Cigarettes—items that belong more in a museum of misguided science than on a drugstore shelf. Vintage drug-store collector Henry Tankersley joins the hour to appraise some of Meinz’s most outlandish finds, including Hadacol, a vitamin elixir that famously came with a 24-proof alcohol kick. Tankersley also tries to make a trade for some of Meinz’s pristine pharmaceutical items. In what is sure to be a highlight, Lisa Whelchel also tests out a weight-loss jiggle-belt machine, providing a lighter moment in a segment filled with historical curiosities.
