Proof That Crs Disease Is Real And Has Been With US For Over 100 Years

CRS Disease, or "Can't Remember Squat" (to use the family-friendly version) is usually referred to as a malady of aging, where one's memory starts to go sideways. Frankly, I've been afflicted since about the age of 30, so I doubt it has anything to do with aging.

I've heard the term bandied about since I was a child, but had no idea that the medical diagnosis, and indeed medical specialization, associated with this affliction could be traced back as far as the 19th century. Apparently it has been around since at least 1882, as evidenced by the precanceled block of 4 below. "CRS MD" is clearly a doctor specializing in CRS Disease.



Seriously though, can anyone attribute the cancel? It's clearly a precancel, as all 4 stamps have full original gum, with the top 2 stamps hinged and the bottom 2 never hinged.

Perhaps Dr. C. R. Sykes, MD, of Chicago, IL

I find the following paragraph in Arthur Cramp's "Nostrums and Quackery" Vol 2, page 105, published in 1922, which lists all sorts of chemical testing notes and legal actions taken against quack medicine proprietors.



Further Google search for "Dr C. R. Sykes" yields newspaper ad references from the Atchison, KS newspapers to 1882 listing Sykes in Chicago at that time.

Dan,

I know exactly which firm precancelled your block.

Unfortunately, I have temporarily forgotten it at the moment.

Jim

Why I oughtta....

That "MD" in the cancel is some chutzpah even though he was. He probably told the court it meant "Maryland".

I just learned a new old one: PICNIC -- Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.

Back to the stamps -- why would a precancel be dated?

A lot of revenue precancels are dated. The date was part of the required information by law.

Ok, I'll state what seems to be the obvious.




I don't think that the MD means Medical Doctor. It means Maryland. Makes no sense to put MD in the cancel, unless it was the location.

If C.R.S. was a doctor, then it would have (almost certainly) been written "Dr. C. R. S."

Jim

Not that is applies here but... CRS is also the acronym for the Congressional Research Service which is under the library of congress and does any research that congress needs on pretty much any topic. Somehow CRS seems an appropriate acronym in that setting.