Ralstonism was a social movement in the United States in the 19th century. It claimed about 800,000 followers. Ralstonism was the brainchild of

Webster Edgerly Albert Webster Edgerly (1852 – 1926) was a 19th and 20th century American social reform activist. He believed in euthanasia programs, a healthy diet, and the power of personal magnetism, and began the Ralstonism movement as a way to live out thi ...

(1852–1926). In Edgerly's words, "Ralstonism is the grandest movement that man is capable of establishing". Ralstonism began as the Ralston Health Club, which published Edgerly's writings. It was a hierarchical organization where members were ranked according to the number of "degrees" they had, which ranged from 0 to 100. Members advanced five degrees at a time, and each Ralston book that a member purchased counted as five degrees. Although Edgerly claimed in the 1900 edition of ''The Book of General Membership of the Ralston Health Club'' that the letters for the word RALSTON came from Regime, Activity, Light, Strength, Temperation, Oxygen and Nature, earlier editions of the same book are credited to ''Everett Ralston'', a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Edgerly, with the implication that Ralstonism is named after this fictitious person. Edgerly saw his followers as the founding members of a new race, based on Caucasians, and free from "impurities". He advocated the castration of all "anti-racial" (non-Caucasian) males at birth. Edgerly wrote 82 of what would today be called self-help books under the pseudonym ''Edmund Shaftesbury''. They covered subjects including diet, exercise, punctuation, sexual magnetism, artistic deep breathing, facial expressions and

ventriloquism Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

. Although Edgerly publicly claimed that the Ralston Company had no goods for sale, he did sell his books through mail order. Many of these books are still available through old-books dealers. In addition to advice like toothbrushing, the books make various recommendations, for example that every young man should engage in a form of probationary marriage with a woman old enough to be his grandmother. Edgerly also created his own language, called the Adam-Man-Tongue, with a 33-letter alphabet. The Magnetism Club of America, another Ralstonite organization, was founded to give its members

mind control Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashin ...

Ralstonites were to follow strict dietary guidelines. For example, watermelons were supposed to be poisonous to Caucasians. Correct diet and proper physical exercise would help readers attain personal magnetism, which would give them control over the thoughts of others. Much of the physical regime demanded moving in graceful curves and arcs and walking exclusively on the balls of one's feet. Because sudden starts and stops and sharp angular movements caused a "leakage of vital force", Ralstonites were to even pick marbles in continuous circles. There was a proper way to bathe (dry bath), gesture, sit, stand, sleep, talk and have sex. Edgerly claimed a scientific basis for all this. In 1900 Edgerly joined forces with the founder of Purina Food Company, which took the name Ralston Purina Company (which would later become

Nestlé Purina PetCare Nestlé Purina Petcare (), or simply Purina, is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. Some of its pet food brands include Purina Pro P ...

). It made

whole wheat A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated wi ...

cereal that Ralstonites were to consume. The food company Edgerly founded evolved into what is now called

Ralcorp Ralcorp Holdings is a manufacturer of various food products, including breakfast cereal, cookies, crackers, chocolate, snack foods, mayonnaise, pasta, and peanut butter. The company is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The majority of the items Ralc ...

which was the original manufacturer of cereal brands including

Chex Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate s ...

and

Cookie Crisp Cookie Crisp is a breakfast cereal that is manufactured to look like chocolate chip cookies. It is produced by General Mills in the United States and Cereal Partners Worldwide, Cereal Partners in other countries. Introduced in 1977, it was origina ...

. Between 1894 and 1895, Edgerly bought large areas of farmland along the northern slope of Hopewell Valley,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, where he founded Ralston Heights in 1905. A house he designed was built to contain a community of Ralstonites he meant to be a core of a future City of Ralston. The contours of the estate followed Edgerly's conviction that sudden stops and walking in straight lines would cause leakage of vital force. Edgerly planned to expand to hundreds of lots, sixteen small farms, seven palaces and a Temple of Ralston. This community did not materialize, at least not in the form Edgerly intended. Much of the estate still exists, albeit in ruined condition. In 2020, a fiction novel entitled, "Ralston Heights" was published by James Betz, an author from nearby Pennington, NJ. Albeit supernatural horror, Betz' story was influenced by Webster Edgerly's Hopewell Valley residence along with the Ralstonism movement.

References

* {{cite journal, first= Janet , last= Six , title= Hidden History of Ralston Heights, journal=

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

, date= May–June 2004, url= http://archive.archaeology.org/0405/abstracts/ralston.html

External links

Writings of Webster Edgerly
at oddbooks.com
''Life building method of the Ralston Health Club; "All nature" course''
at archive.org
''Book of general membership of the Ralston Health Club''
at archive.org

(formerly at neurolinguistic.com)

at google.com Health movements Diets Social movements in the United States Social philosophy Pseudoscience Ralston Purina Eugenics organizations White supremacist groups in the United States