The lure of looking younger has opened the doors to numerous frauds. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Cora Galenti advertised her miraculous facial rejuvenation process to women across the country. For a fee of about $2,500, women could come to Galenti’s establishment for rejuvenation treatments that could, according to advertisements, help them look more than even twenty years younger. In actuality, the rejuvenation “treatment” was application of a 48-percent phenol, or carbolic acid, solution to the patient’s face and neck. This application often resulted in skin discoloration and loss of pigmentation, and even welt-like scars. Hardly a fountain of youth!

The only positive thing that could be said for Galenti’s treatment is that it was not fatal. Phenol can, when applied to skin, travel to the kidneys and bladder where it can wreak havoc. Although coating the women’s faces in acid was not a crime in itself, Galenti’s claim that such treatments rejuvenated the face were fraudulent. On January 5, 1962, a federal grand jury indicted her on four counts of mail fraud. In September 1962 Galenti was convicted of two of the counts, fined two thousand dollars, and sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years of probation. Galenti appealed the verdict, and while free on bail, amazingly continued operating her business! After her conviction, she fled to Mexico where she married a Mexican national and obtained citizenship, which granted her immunity from extradition for her frauds.