Sorry I didn’t mention it in the OP, but that is the background reading at my location at 2". My location is about average for background radiation.
On the other hand, if you’ve got the audio on, and you act sufficiently alarmed, the price may drop to zero! 
Aren’t you exaggerating just a bit? I mean, I have a rad girlfriend, but I would describe the meters in my house as groovy at best.
No, no, no. It measures radness. For example, if he pointed it at your girlfriend, it would start making clicking noises and possibly smoking.
… I have put this in the pile of things for Cecil to consider. Whether he would revisit or issue an addendum or whatever, that’s beyond my ken.
What about your barbie?
My in-laws have (as an antique/curio) a drinking-water jug specially made of pitchblende, to give you “all the healthful benefits of radiation”.
Did they ever try to serve you out of it? 
:eek:
Was it called the Revigator? My Uncle use to own one of them but he didn’t use it (he collected Geiger counters and radioactive stuff). They were all the rage in the 1920’s 100,000’s of them were sold until people started dying from its Healthful effects. There was lots of radioactive quackery back in the day.
WOW! You guys actually read this stuff! Thanks for the heads ups even if it goes nowhere it’s nice to know you guys noticed this thread. The question I have for Cecil regards pre-atomic age background radiation levels as compared to modern estimates. In the excellent book “The Angry Genie” Karl Z. Morgan the “father of health physics” placed the average (pre-atom) natural background level in the Oak Ridge Tenn. area at 0.008 milliroentgen per hour. (Pg 33 2nd para). How do today’s natural background levels compare after 60 years of the atomic age?
It’s not exactly the same, but that’s the general look of the thing.
That’s cool. My Uncle said there were many water “energizers” manufactured in the 1920’s and earl 30’s the Revigator was just one of the more popular brands. This link has pictures of some other brands of water urns if you’re interested.
Other people just bought their water pre-radiated or got their daily dose from Radium bread, Radium Toothpaste or my favorite Vita Radium Brand Suppositories just to name a few of the many radioactive miracle cures offered in the good old days.
Most of the females who painted radium on the hands and dials of wristwatches didn’t have to bother with buying those gimmicks. :eek:
And they had a ”natural” glowing smile with a kiss that could take a man’s breath away (and sometimes life). 
Damn, I came in specifically to mention Vaseline glass!
BaneSidhe As an antique and collectibles dealer, I’m used to people doing careful examinations for stampings, watermarks, etc. At one fleamarket we did get a customer who carried a UV flashlight to seperate real Vaseline glass from knockoff. Didn’t bother us a bit.
I don’t know how many Boy Scouts do that, but I do know that at least one used thorium from old lantern mantles (along with americium from smoke detectors and radium from old glowing paint) as one of the ingredients in a homemade breeder reactor.
The Radioactive Boy scout is one of the reasons I feel the terrorist threat is often overstated. If a kid going for a merit badge can bring the EPA in spacesuits. What chance do we stand against a competent Al Qaeda?