Where Sick Folks Get Well: Norman Baker, the Crescent Hotel, and the Cure That Killed
- S.M. McClure
- May 5
- 8 min read
Updated: 12 hours ago
In the shadows of the Great Depression, when desperation outpaced hope, a man stepped into the public eye promising miracles. His name was Norman G. Baker—a vaudeville mentalist turned radio mogul, inventor, cancer “healer,” and, ultimately, one of the most audacious medical frauds in American history.
At Phantasmagoria Antiques & Oddities, we often find that the stories behind our artifacts are just as fascinating—if not more so—than the items themselves. And few stories are more chilling or bizarre than that of Norman Baker. In fact, we currently have several pieces connected to his legacy available in our shop. But before we unveil those storied objects, allow us to illuminate the twisted legacy of “Dr.” Norman Baker through the flickers of the lantern light.
From Magic to Manipulation
Born in 1882 in Muscatine, Iowa, Baker's early years were humble. He dropped out of school by the 10th grade and trained as a machinist like his father. But Baker had larger dreams—dreams of fame and fortune. Fascinated by the circus and vaudeville magic, he reinvented himself as a mentalist named Charles Welsh, joined the traveling circuit, and introduced a mysterious assistant, Madame Pearl Tangley.
Baker’s run on the vaudeville circuit was, overall, quite successful. Although he started playing to small crowds, by the end of his run, he was said to have pulled in thousands of spectators, mostly due to the draw of Madame Tangley. Throughout his show, Norman would learn the power of suggestion, and this would plant the seed of inspiration for what he would later call “Mental Therapeutics,” by which a person could cure themselves of any disease by concentrating wholly on overcoming it without medication or any medical intervention. Norman claims to have even cured himself of tuberculosis by imagining the disease being eradicated from his lungs.
After 10 years of performing, Norman returned home to Muscatine. Baker’s act as a mentalist showed him the power of his voice and the overwhelming control he could have over the masses who were desperate to believe in things greater than their present circumstance. With a knack for showmanship and a flair for the dramatic, he set his sights on a grander stage. Little did the world know, this would lead him down a path of controversy and cunning, culminating in countless legal battles and the deaths of hundreds of innocent people.
The Tangley Company and the Call of the Calliaphone
After Baker's career on the vaudeville circuit ended, he began to pursue other entrepreneurial ventures in Iowa. Using his machinist skills and his showman background, Baker invented the Calliaphone, a loud, pipe-organ-like instrument marketed through his Tangley Company. The Calliaphone was a success, ringing out across carnivals and fairs nationwide. It's still manufactured today—its cheerful tunes now echoing with the ghost of their creator’s darker ambitions.
KTNT: “Know the Naked Truth”
Soon after his success with the Calliaphone, Norman would return to his showman roots and create a radio station that he promised would “lift Muscatine from being a little berg lost in the Mississippi cornfields, to a city the whole world would know about.” He developed K-TNT Radio (Know the Naked Truth) in 1925 on the highest hilltop in Muscatine along the Mississippi River. Norman said his station was for the “common folks” of the Iowa farm country, however, he was known to illegally increase his radio wattage to reach over a million homes in rural communities across the Midwest.
Norman used this amplification of his voice to begin constructing a message that the American Medical Association was a corrupt and greedy organization, specifically with their treatments of cancer. Norman’s mother died of cancer in 1921, and it is widely believed that this sparked his skepticism of the medical community. Baker would give nightly addresses on K-TNT, attacking the American Medical Association, and he would often intertwine pro-Hitler, anti-Semitic propaganda into his tirades, all over the background music of his Calliaphone.
Formula 5: The Cancer Cure
By the late 1920s, Baker began broadcasting wild claims regularly about various medical issues, namely targeting water fluoridation, vaccinations, and the aluminum cookware industry that he claimed were the cause of most cancers. His most incredible claim, however, was that he had discovered ways to cure cancer without surgery or radiation. At a time when cancer was an almost certain death sentence, hopeful and desperate cancer patients began to follow Baker’s remedies.
In early 1929, Baker heard of the treatments of a supposed cancer doctor in Kansas City named Dr. Charles Ozias. Dr. Ozias’ cure involved injecting a proprietary serum into his patients to shrink their tumors and cure them of their cancer. Intrigued by this, Baker advertised on KTNT that he was looking for five test patients suffering from cancer, and he sent them to Dr. Ozias for treatment.
After these patients had been treated by Dr. Ozias, Baker, over a broadcast, announced that a treatment had been discovered for cancer and that the test patients had been cured… In reality, all of these patients would succumb to their illness. Dr. Ozias did not give Baker his formula for his cancer treatment, but two of his employees went to work at the Baker Institute. This is likely how Baker obtained the recipe for Dr. Ozias’s supposed miracle cure, which was a concoction made up of watermelon seed, brown cornsilk, clover leaves, hydrochloric acid, salt, phosphate, water, glycerin, and carbolic acid in various doses. Baker would dub this concoction “Formula 5.”
By November of 1929, he established the Baker Muscatine Cancer Institute to sell his new and incredibly expensive miracle cure to the public. He hired local physicians and nurses to try and avoid any legal speculation that he was practicing medicine without a license. He spared no expense creating a facade of credibility, complete with ornate furnishings and a professional appearance. But behind the polished veneer was a reality far less pristine. His miracle treatments were not only ineffective but harmful, leaving many patients disillusioned and in a worse condition than before... Or even dead.
According to the American Medical Association, Norman Baker was making over $75,000 per month with his medical endeavors between 1930 and 1932. The cash was said to be taken out of the hospital in suitcases under the cover of nightfall. This would be roughly 1.4 million dollars in 2025.
Cast Out From Iowa
Despite mounting complaints and growing skepticism, Baker’s charisma continued to shield him for a short time. In 1930, the American Medical Association publicly stated that Norman Baker was a quack doctor and they discredited any treatment Baker was peddling. Norman sued them for libel and demanded half a million dollars in damages. During the trial, Baker would call upon numerous quack doctors to testify, with the Court not allowing them to be considered expert witnesses. One of these witnesses claimed to be a doctor at Baker’s Institute, however, the Court found that the man had an eighth-grade education and worked as a coal miner before working for Baker. As can be imagined, the jury in the case found in favor of the American Medical Association. This loss, coupled with the cancellation of K-TNT’s radio license by the FRC (the predecessor to the FCC) and a 1931 Iowa Supreme Court ruling issuing an injunction against Baker for practicing medicine without a license, Norman Baker found himself a showman without an audience.
Border Blaster
When the bodies began to pile up in Iowa, the government stepped in to close Baker's Cancer Institute in Muscatine. Banned from practicing medicine in Iowa and silenced by the revocation of his radio license, Baker fled to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, far outside of the jurisdiction of the government, and opened a new radio station with the call sign XENT.
This new station was considered a "border blaster," meaning that the radio station would be broadcast across the Mexican border into most of the United States while being outside of the regulatory reach of the US Federal Government. XENT operated with one of the most powerful radio signals in North America, often overpowering and interfering with other stations in the US. Baker would use this new station to attack the AMA, the US Federal Government, and the Catholic Church, and continue his anti-Semitic rhetoric. He would, of course, also advertise his Formula 5 cure for cancer.
This move would prove very effective in persuading the public, as many viewed Baker’s exile as a way for the AMA and the Federal Government to silence him for exposing the truths about the medical industry and cancer care in the United States. He claimed often that the AMA did not want the cure for cancer to be released, because it would cause them to lose the profits they were making with their treatments.
The Lavender Menace of Eureka Springs
When the dust settled after his failures in Iowa, Norman decided to try his hand at opening another cancer hospital in the United States. He set his sights on the dilapidated Crescent Hotel high atop the Ozark Mountains in the small resort town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The Crescent, and Eureka Springs, were suffering financially due to the Great Depression, and the desperate town welcomed Baker with open arms as they hoped his presence would provide jobs and a renewed interest in Eureka Springs, which had been a destination for healing due to its supposed healing mineral springs since 1879. Norman took over the hotel and revitalized it. He repainted parts of the exterior and the interior of the ornate Victorian lobby in his signature lavender color. He welcomed his first patient to the newly named Baker Hospital in November of 1937.
Thousands traveled to the Ozarks seeking healing. What they found instead was a grotesque illusion. Patients were given Formula 5, denied painkillers, and berated for their worsening conditions. The terminally ill were hidden away in what staff reportedly called the “pain asylum,” and a makeshift morgue was built in the hotel basement. When a patient died, their body was often whisked away at night to avoid alarming the others.
Behind the painted lavender walls and glittering façade was a house of horrors. As the bodies began to pile up, so did the mounting legal pressure against Baker.
The Fall of the Faker
Baker was finally brought to justice in 1940—not for murder, but for mail fraud. He had defrauded countless families out of what amounts to nearly $90 million today. His punishment? Four years in federal prison and a $4,000 fine. During Baker’s incarceration, he would lose the Crescent Hotel and his XENT radio station. After his release, he would live out a lavish lifestyle in obscurity aboard a yacht off the coast of Florida. He died of liver cirrhosis in 1958.
Norman Baker’s fall from grace was swift and unforgiving. Though his reign of deceit had ended, his story left an indelible mark on history—a stark reminder of the perils of misplaced trust and the dark allure of false hope. It stands as a testament to the lengths some will go for fame and fortune, and the consequences of such ambitious deceit.
Artifacts of Infamy: Authentic Norman Baker Pieces at Phantasmagoria Antiques and Oddities
Phantasmagoria Antiques & Oddities is proud to claim that we possess the largest inventory of authentic Norman Baker items available for purchase online.
Each of these items is a physical remnant of a cautionary tale—a con man’s transformation from showman to snake oil savior. And now, they can become part of your collection. Bring them home before they're gone.
Why We Remember
Norman Baker’s story is not just a tale of crime. It’s a reminder of the vulnerability of the human spirit when faced with despair. In today’s world of online misinformation, conspiracy theories, and pseudo-science, the ghost of Norman Baker lingers longer than we might like to admit.
Through The Lantern Light, we aim to uncover the dark corners of forgotten history—where illusion and reality blur. Stay curious. Stay skeptical. And above all, stay weird.
-S.M. McClure
Interested in owning a piece of the Norman Baker saga? Visit www.enterphantasmagoria.com or follow us on Instagram @PhantasmagoriaOddities to explore the full collection.
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