The Golden Age (1919-1937): Illuminating the Blind World

Ken Raines

From 1919 to 1937, the Watchtower Society published a magazine titled The Golden Age. The Golden Age is easily the most interesting as well as the strangest publication the Watchtower Society has been associated with to date.

The main purpose of The Golden Age was to proclaim the supposed soon coming "Golden Age" or millennium on Earth and to point to evidence of its approach. The target audience for the magazine was not the International Bible Students (called Jehovah's Witnesses since 1931) but the general public, though Bible Students were the primary subscribers. The objective was to introduce Watchtower beliefs to the public through a more general newsmagazine than the theologically oriented Watch Tower. The magazine was carried by Bible Student "colporteurs" door-to-door and left with householders as is done today with its successor, Awake!¹

The Golden Age

In recent years the Watchtower Society said the following about the significance of The Golden Age magazine:

With that journal and the other publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, the loyal 'virgin class' went forth on their mission of world illumination.²

What were the pure "virgins" of the Watchtower to illuminate the world about through The Golden Age? In its first issue, The Golden Age explained its purpose by saying:

Its purpose is to explain in the light of Divine wisdom the true meaning of the great phenomena of the present day and to prove to thinking minds by evidence incontrovertible and convincing that the time of a greater blessing of mankind is at hand. Like a voice in the wilderness of confusion, its mission is to announce the incoming Golden Age. THE GOLDEN AGE will carry into the homes of the people the desired message which would tend to restore calmness to the disturbed minds and comfort to the saddened hearts.³

The import and meaning of nearly every event of the time was its significance in preparing the world for the "Golden Age" or Millennium. The Bible Students felt they needed a general, news-oriented magazine for the public as both the public and their leaders were not spiritually "illuminated" sufficiently to understand the meaning of then current world events and needed their "sad hearts" comforted and their "disturbed minds" calmed by the message they had to bring.

Only the self proclaimed spiritual "virgins" among the Bible Students had what they believed were the spiritual "eyes of understanding" to see from the Bible and modern events that the world had ended, that Jesus had returned to Earth invisibly, and that we were in the foretold "last days" just prior to the Millennium or Golden Age. This situation was seen as so acute that Bible Students felt that nearly everyone else on Earth was either spiritually blind or just plain stupid for failing to notice these things:

The stupidity of the present generation will be a subject of comment and criticism a hundred years hence. The resurrected millions will look back to this time, and wonder that both leaders and people were so utterly blind to the significance of present-day events.⁴

The Golden Age was launched to rectify this shortcoming of the blind masses and their leaders by illuminating the blind world with the real meaning of current events.

A Violation of Russell's Will?

Before his death in 1916, the first president and founder of the Watchtower Society, Charles Taze Russell wrote a will in which it was spelled out how he wanted the magazine The Watch Tower published after his death. Russell stated that he wanted The Watch Tower published after his death by a committee of five. He further stated:

As the Society has already pledged to me that it will publish no other periodicals, it shall be required that the Editorial Committee shall write for or be connected with no other publications in any manner or degree. My object in these requirements is to safeguard the committee and the journal from any spirit of ambition or pride or headship.⁵

Because of this, the publishing of a second magazine like The Golden Age after Russell's death is seen by some as a violation of Russell's will.⁶

The Golden Age Announced

The Society's second president, J. F. Rutherford, introduced the new magazine at the 1919 Cedar Point Convention of the International Bible Students. Rutherford explained that the "war against the truth" which resulted in his and other Watchtower Society leaders' recent imprisonment had also resulted in the printing plates for their other newspaper-like magazines, The People's Pulpit and Bible Student Monthly, being destroyed. Further, he said, new ordinances were being passed making it difficult to "distribute papers except to subscribers." He then stated:

Seeking diligently and prayerfully to know the Lord's will, the thought came to us that we should arrange for some publication to carry the message now due, and to put it in such form that it will be sought after and read by the people. We were reminded that Brother Russell once contemplated a publication of this kind, and we reasoned that probably the time was due for such a publication. The result is that under the Lord's providence we have arranged for the publication of a new magazine under the name and title "THE GOLDEN AGE."⁷

Contents

The contents of The Golden Age when launched covered general news and articles in the following subject areas:

Labor and Economics

Social and Educational

Manufacturing and Mining

Finance, Commerce, Transportation

Political -- Domestic and Foreign

Agriculture and Husbandry

Science and Invention

Housewifery and Hygiene

Religion and Philosophy

Many articles and news items in The Golden Age were thus not overtly religious in nature or content. Especially during the early years of its publication, many articles though, in the concluding paragraph(s) discussed how the article's secular subject matter would be treated or handled in the Millennium, or how the current situation provided evidence of the Golden Age's soon approach. This was true of articles on all subjects from agriculture to transportation.

The Editor

The magazine's editor was Clayton J. Woodworth. Woodworth was a prominent Bible Student and the co-author of The Finished Mystery, a book published by the IBSA two years earlier in 1917. Based partly on its contents, Woodworth and other prominent members of the IBSA such as J. F. Rutherford and William Van Amburg were imprisoned under the U.S. Espionage Act during World War I.

Three years before The Finished Mystery was published, Woodworth at a Bible Student convention claimed that he was recently mentally unbalanced and became demon possessed.⁸ In The Finished Mystery book itself he apparently alluded to his demon possession and claimed that others in the Bible Student movement would have similar struggles as the "time of the end" progressed.⁹ According to material in The Golden Age magazine, others in the Bible Student movement did have struggles with demons transmitting thoughts into their minds. By the 1930s Rutherford himself claimed that angels were transmitting information and Biblical interpretations for Watchtower publications into his mind.¹⁰ This angelic source for the "new light" published by the Society was true for the rest of the "remnant" or faithful and wise servant class -- they all were supposedly under such "angelic direction".

A Bible Student Publication That Pretended It Wasn't?

The Society apparently tried to portray The Golden Age magazine (at least to begin with) as a "nonsectarian" general newsmagazine and not a religious, or not specifically a Bible Student publication, which of course it was. In the first issue of The Golden Age they said, "It is not published in the interest of any religious denomination"¹¹ which was untrue. The Watchtower Society has always claimed it as their own and considered it an important part of their divine mission on Earth to illuminate the world with the Truth. They even stated that The Golden Age's publication was connected with the "initial feature of the theocratic order" as it began to be established on Earth in 1919:

In 1919, along with the birth of the New World society, we saw the initial feature of the theocratic order established in the congregations through the appointment of a service director by the Brooklyn headquarters. This was in connection with the Golden Age work. This beginning of centralized theocratic direction...¹²

They published it though without using either the "Watchtower Bible or Tract Society" or the "International Bible Students Association" (IBSA) as copyright holders. It was published originally by "Woodworth, Hudgings and Martin" in New York City. This sounds more like a law firm than a Bible Student group. The Woodworth here was Clayton J. Woodworth, the magazine's editor.

The other two names referred to William Hudgings, the original Secretary and Treasurer of the magazine and to Robert J. Martin, the magazine's original Business Manager. Both of course were prominent Bible Students and wrote articles for the magazine, as did Woodworth. Both Hudgings and Martin were replaced later. Hudgings left the Watchtower Society in the 1920s apparently and joined a Bible Student splinter group. After he left, The Golden Age was published by "Woodworth, Knorr and Martin," with Nathan Knorr replacing Hudgings as Secretary and Treasurer for the magazine. Knorr later became the third president of the Watchtower Society after the death of Rutherford in 1942. Martin was, in turn, replaced by C. E. Stewart as Business Manager. By the early 1930s the magazine was published by "The Golden Age Publishing Company."

Perhaps in keeping with Russell's will that the "Society" agreed it would never publish another magazine and the Watch Tower's editorial board would not be associated with another magazine, they decided to create another corporation to publish it without members of the editorial committee. It appears "The Golden Age Publishing Company" and "Woodworth, Hudgings and Martin", etc., may have been separate legal corporations from the Watchtower Society and International Bible Students Association. In any case, The Golden Age was published by the Bible Students in the interests of that religious sect or denomination, despite claims to the contrary. The Golden Age's successors, Consolation (1937-1946) and Awake! (1946 to present) listed the Watchtower Society as publishers. The Society certainly claims The Golden Age as its own today, both in numerous articles and in their publications Indexes.¹³

Early on, The Golden Age frequently noted that it carried material by the International Bible Students. At first, this was usually stated in a second party sense as if they were simply sympathetic to the IBSA or some of their books and not that they were affiliated with them or one and the same. Nearly every issue also had a lecture on religion by J. F. Rutherford, the president of the IBSA. They also tried at first, apparently, to convey the thought that they were simply giving him a place to publish his views in a "non-sectarian" newsmagazine as they thought his views were interesting or important and were not being reported on in other news outlets. They didn't at first state that The Golden Age was a magazine published by the religious incorporation of which he was president. In fact, in the first issue, they simply referred to the author of its article on religion ("Judge" Rutherford) by being by "a member of the New York Bar." Some time later though its direct ties with the Bible Students/Jehovah's Witnesses was more above board and became well known.¹⁴

The Golden Age at first also claimed that it was an open forum for ideas and opinions on various topics. For a few years they did allow some articles (usually short and greatly outnumbered) that countered their position on such topics as vaccinations, aluminum, chiropractic and other medical issues, how to raise children, etc.¹⁵ The topics were almost never overtly religious in nature nor debated basic Bible Student doctrine. After a few years of this though they rarely allowed any reader to express contrary thoughts on any subject that was basic to Bible Student theology or subjects they felt strongly about (Aluminum, vaccination, etc).

Many authors of the articles, unlike the Society's current practice, were named. These were usually Bible Students or individuals they promoted for their ideas who were outside the Society such as the medical "experts," George Starr White, George Betts and Herbert Shelton.

Finances

As of this writing, I haven't researched how The Golden Age was actually financed. One would at first assume that it was financed (at least to start with) by the Watchtower Society. Since they were the ones who launched the magazine, the funds to do so must have been provided by the Society. However, if The Golden Age Publishing Company was a separate corporation, perhaps the Society had the magazine finance its own publishing after they started it. This would come through subscriptions and paid advertising.

Advertisements

For several years The Golden Age carried advertisements in its pages for products not associated with the IBSA as well as ads for IBSA material. Most issues had a full-page ad for an IBSA publication on the back page. Non IBSA ads included ads for flower bulbs, "Freezone," and "Miracle Oil" among others.¹⁶

Advertisements for items promoted and endorsed by the IBSA included an ad for the book Angels and Women, ads for the Radio-Solar or Radio-Active Pad, the Electronic Radio-Biola, and Radium Eye Glasses.¹⁷ One assumes these ads were paid for by the advertiser, thus generating revenue for The Golden Age.

Most of the ads were for items they endorsed including IBSA publications and the Electronic Radio-Biola. Some items were from individuals and companies the Society apparently knew little about. This eventually led to problems as Golden Age readers purchased some of this material apparently thinking they had the approval of the Watchtower Society like the other material. The Golden Age received complaints about products advertised that didn't do as advertised. It reached a point where The Golden Age decided not to have advertisements in its pages that were non-IBSA items.¹⁸

Quackery and Pseudoscience

In attempting such a general newsmagazine to illuminate the world (non-Bible Students) with "Present Truth," the publishers showed their lack of knowledge or expertise in the varied subjects they covered. Much of the material published would probably be a surprise or an embarrassment to Jehovah's Witnesses today if they read it. To those outside the Watchtower and not committed to the group, The Golden Age provides a valuable window into their past and their views on a wide variety of subjects, not just religious or Scriptural issues.

For example, The Golden Age rarely published much accurate information on science, medicine, or inventions in these fields. As medical advice they promoted some of the most notorious medical "quacks" and loose cannons of the twentieth century including Albert Abrams,¹⁹ George Starr White,²⁰ Charles Betts,²¹ Bernarr MacFadden and Johanna Brandt. The "cures," remedies and diagnostic methods they promoted included Iridiagnosis,²² Zone Therapy, the Grape Cure (for cancer), the Electronic Reactions of Abrams (the ERA or Radionics),²³ Radium laced "appliances" such as Radium eye glasses²⁴ and the "Radio-Solar" or "Radio-Active" Pad.²⁵ Most of these endorsements were of methods and devices that were at least questionable and unproven at best, and at worst known to be frauds at the time.

They frequently attacked the American Medical Association and "orthodox" medicine and doctors in general. They denounced basic medical beliefs and practices such as the germ theory,²⁶ and use of prescription drugs form aspirin to morphine. Instead, they promoted various "drugless" schools of medicine such as Osteopathy, Chiropractic and Naturopathy which at the time also endorsed some of the same quackery.

The Golden Age even advertised and promoted quack medical devices invented by Bible Students themselves such as the Electronic Radio Biola, an ERA device for diagnosing and curing all diseases at home invented by the Bible Student, Dr. R. A. Gamble.²⁷ In other science areas they rejected most of the established knowledge and leading theories from Biology to Astronomy. The Golden Age promoted Isaac Vail's Canopy theory for the source of the Biblical Flood.²⁸ While initially accepting the evolution of all species except Homo sapiens, around the time of the Scopes trial in 1925, they rejected Darwinian ideas beyond evolution within a basic kind or species (macroevolution).²⁹ They printed numerous articles that made bizarre and provably false science claims such as the claim by one author that the Solar Corona was actually part of the Moon, not the Sun, based on his observation of a Solar eclipse.³⁰

Some of the "pseudosciences" that were accepted and promoted in The Golden Age included Phrenology (studying the shapes of heads to determine a person's characteristics such as intelligence) and Physiognomy (studying facial features to determine one's character, etc.). These were viewed by mainstream science at the time as false or pseudosciences.³¹ More controversial movements in science they endorsed included eugenics. They ended their endorsement of this, as did many others, after the Nazis' implementation of eugenics proved to most to be disastrous and repulsive. They thereafter denounced it as demonic.³²

One "science" that was accepted by many scientists at the time but has since fallen on hard times, Freudian psychoanalysis, was rejected by The Golden Age, though for reasons that wouldn't be accepted today by most scientists. They claimed it was simply "demonism."

The Golden Age is At Hand!

Besides their material on medicine and science, a major focus of The Golden Age was the coming "Golden Age" or Millennium. This produced some of the more interesting articles and ideas in The Golden Age. Much of this material is also quite strange. Like most of the material in The Golden Age, this to my knowledge has not been documented or discussed much by researchers of the Society.

They said the Golden Age or Millennium would be instituted gradually and in a "natural way." At first they said that the "time of the end" leading to the millennium started in 1799 and the Millennial Age actually started to "dawn" in 1874 when Jesus "returned" in some invisible, unseen sense. Later, after changing both the invisible return of Christ and the start of the "time of the end" to 1914, they emphasized events and developments mostly after 1914 as marking the dawn of the New Age. Based mainly on the Old Testament book of Daniel that stated that "knowledge will increase" in the "time of the end", they believed many if not most scientific discoveries and inventions were fulfilling this and similar Scriptures and proved that the Golden Age was at the door. Inventions paving the way for the Millennium included the invention of washing machines,³³ rotary engines,³⁴ car transported refrigeration of food,³⁵ sewing machines and plumbing,³⁶ and wireless radio, to name a few.³⁷ All were confidently proclaimed as infallible proofs of the dawn of the New Age.

Such inventions in food preservation as dehydrated grapes,³⁸ powdered milk and eggs,³⁹ as well as seaweed and "slime"⁴⁰ would be consumed with relish in the Golden Age, they said, and their discovery were more signs the Millennium was around the corner. These would be needed and employed in the Millennium to help feed the billions of resurrected doppelgängers (see below) back to life on earth.

Other signs of the soon approach of the Golden Age were deserts such the Imperial Valley in California being irrigated and cultivated. As they still do toady, they also pointed to real or imagined increases in wars, earthquakes, famines, crime and immorality as signs of the end. As stated above, a major preoccupation of The Golden Age was the Canopy theory of Isaac Vail. This held that the "waters above the firmament" in the Genesis creation account were a "ring" or canopy of water above the atmosphere of Earth. This fell creating the Biblical Flood. An electrical ring they stated still surrounds the Earth. When it falls it will have an opposite effect as the Flood. The electricity would only destroy such things as harmful insects, bacteria and germs which they taught were created by Satan himself to harass mankind. Plants would grow better and it would benefit humans not only by helping produce better vegetation (perfect fruits and vegies), but would "vivify" man's body and cells, helping him live the thousand or more years the Millennial period required.⁴¹

The Golden Age thus was keen on discussing the wonderful effects of the electrical ring falling to Earth in helping bring about the Golden Age. They printed numerous articles on this and the evidences they believed indicated the electrical ring was about to "break" or fall to Earth, or even that it already had and thus why the Millennium could be expected to arrive shortly.

The weather was also a source of interest. It was believed that in the time of the end, there would be an increase in bad or harsh weather such as tornadoes, and geological activity such as earthquakes. On the other hand, they also taught something of the opposite. The weather would gradually improve during the time of the end, thus helping the Golden Age arrive in a gradual, natural way. One major way this would happen was when the polar ice caps melted. They printed news items periodically that indicated the ice caps were melting because they believed it would help "stabilize" the earth's weather "forever."⁴²

In short, as one Golden Age put it, "everything goes to show that we are coming into a grand Golden Age,"⁴³ from dynamite,⁴⁴ rotary engines,⁴⁵ washing machines⁴⁶ to the weather (good or bad). Can't argue with that.

The gods of the Golden Age

The Golden Age, April 7, 1937, p. 423

The conditions and activity of the Millennium itself was also a source of frequent theological and scientific speculation and discussion in The Golden Age magazine. They believed that nearly every human being who ever lived would be resurrected on Earth after Armageddon.⁴⁷ More precisely, an exact duplicate or copy of the physical body of each dead individual would be made by God to replace the original. Also, an exact copy of what the Society has called the life force "pattern" or personality of each person would be recreated by God and placed in the recreated body. The original body and life pattern of each person would still be dead or non-existent. This makes the "resurrected" individual actually what philosophers call a "doppelgänger," or an exact physical copy of the original person.⁴⁸ These doppelgängers of the dead would be put on trial for everlasting life during the 1,000 years of the Millennium. The "anointed class," who would number 144,000, were to be "resurrected" to heaven. These, together with Jesus would become The Christ, the Messiah or Savior for the world during the Millennium.

Heaven was believed to be located in the Pleiades star cluster, hundreds of light years from Earth.⁴⁹ The Christ class would be sent from the Pleiades to Earth to help the resurrected billions on Earth reach perfection. These would be stationed on or near the Earth and would remain invisible, though they could also materialize in human form to be seen, as did the angels in the Old Testament. Mankind would have to obey the directions and instructions of the perfected Christ for the 1,000 years of the Golden Age to gain eternal life.

Since there were billions of humans and only 144,001 members of mankind's time and space bound Savior and these were usually invisible, The Christ class would need help to lift mankind up from sin and imperfection. The Christ would employ the help and assistance of the "ancient worthies" of the Old Testament such as Abraham. The ancient worthies would be headquartered in Jerusalem and communicate The Christ's orders from there, perhaps through the newly invented radio, they said.⁵⁰ The Golden Age magazine would also continue to be published, perhaps by the ancient worthies to continue its vital program of world illumination.

This is also where many of the recent modern inventions that paved the way for the New Age would come in handy. The ancient worthies would be able to communicate worldwide through the newly invented wireless radio. Other inventions would help transform the Earth into a paradise such as dynamite, airplanes, trains, and other machinery. Beside the beneficial effects of the electrical ring falling, inventions and discoveries recently made would help man live without dying throughout the 1,000 year reign of The Christ Conglomerate.

This would include perfect fruits and vegetables extending human life, medical inventions such as radium appliances, electronic therapies including, apparently, Electronic Radio-Biolas and perhaps an RDK (Radio Disease Killer) or two. The Christ would tell people on Earth what to eat, how to dress and how to live. For a thousand years, no less.

Those doppelgängers who do not get with this program of reaching human perfection physically and spiritually through such means will simply be killed (annihilated) at the end of the Millennium. Those who are judged perfect are not done, but will be given one more final and ultimate test of undetermined length when Satan and all hell is let loose to tempt and deceive. Those who withstand this last test are then declared righteous, fit and worthy enough to receive the "gift" of eternal life on Earth.

Crusades and Campaigns

"The Hierarchy's bastard man-child" (The Golden Age, April 7, 1937, p. 442)

This may put in a different perspective why the Society in The Golden Age was so concerned about the latest inventions, grandiose claims in alternative medicine, and so forth. They campaigned against aluminum, vaccines, the germ theory, and vivisection as being part of the old world that had ended in 1914. They believed the new alternative "drugless" therapies in medicine were part of the "increase in knowledge" in "the last days" and were part of their "present truth" they were trying to illuminate the blind with. They therefore promoted drugless cures such as the Radio-Solar Pad, the ERA, Iridiagnosis, etc. All these were part of the much sought after signs of the last days and the "incontrovertible evidence" that the Golden Age was at hand -- a time when "sickness and disease will be no more."

Cartoons

The Golden Age is somewhat well known for its numerous and outrageous cartoons attacking and lampooning others. The Catholic Church and its supposed "bastard" offspring such as Nazism and Fascism were favorite targets in the 1930s.

The Golden Age After 100 years

After one hundred years The Golden Age is a strange and at times fascinating periodical. The Golden Age magazine was a reflection of the Bible Student community of the 1920s and 1930s. It gives a unique perspective and understanding of their worldview and beliefs at the time that their other material doesn't.

The Golden Age was definitely reflective of its editor, C. J. Woodworth, a man who as noted claimed just a few years before publishing it to have been mentally unbalanced, unable too sleep for several nights in a row, and even demon possessed. Reading The Golden Age, one isn't surprised by this claim of its editor. It obviously wasn't produced by a great and sound mind like say, Albert Einstein. Under Woodworth's editorship the magazine was full of material promoting occult ideas, beliefs, and methods as well as a fixation on, and a paranoia of demons.

Much of it is just plain loony as well. As I have remarked elsewhere, reading The Golden Age is to take a trip into "The Twilight Zone." It is similar reading to current tabloid newspapers in the U.S. such as The National Enquirer with its fantastic stories such as, "I Had a UFO Baby!" It is, at times, completely off the wall. It is for these same reasons at times interesting and unintentionally humorous today which is its saving grace. Reading and researching it, while entertaining, has ultimately driven me nuts at times.

I challenge anybody to read The Golden Age through (all 1,500 pages or so) without coming out of the exercise a little nutty and in need of a vacation (or a "stiff" drink). I am currently a Recovering Golden Age Reader (RGAR). I pass the curse on to you. Enjoy.

Notes

¹ To Whom the Work is Entrusted, 1919 said, "THE GOLDEN AGE work is a house-to-house canvass with the kingdom message, proclaiming the day of vengeance of our God and comforting them that mourn. In addition to the canvass, a copy of THE GOLDEN AGE is to be left at each home, whether a subscription is taken or not." Quoted in Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, p. 95.

² The Watchtower, February 1, 1985, p. 18, §19.

³ The Golden Age, October 1, 1919, pp. 3, 4; The Golden Age, April 24, 1936, p. 463.

⁴ The Golden Age, July 29, 1925, p. 688.

⁵ Watch Tower Reprints, p. 5999.

⁶ Duane Magnani, "Angels of the New Light", Witness, Inc., taped lecture.

⁷ Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, p. 89.

⁸ Thirteenth Souvenir Convention Report, pp. 274, 275. See Ken Raines, "Clayton J. Woodworth and Demon Possession," JW Research, Winter, 1995, pp. 16-18.

⁹ The Finished Mystery, 1917, pp. 126, 127.

¹⁰ J. F. Rutherford, Preparation, 1933, pp. 28, 64, 66, 67; The Watchtower, August 15, 1933, pp. 247, 248; The Watchtower, September 15, 1938, p. 286; J. F. Rutherford, Light, book 1, 1930, pp. 61, 62 (repeated, The Watchtower, May 15, 1938, p. 157); The Watchtower, September 1, 1930, p. 263, §27. See Ken Raines, "Angelic Channeling," JW Research, Vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 6-11. Also, Ken Raines, "The Spirit World Guided Rutherford".

¹¹ The Golden Age, October 1, 1919, p. 3.

¹² Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, 1959, pp. 147-148.

¹³ Watch Tower Publications Index of Subjects Discussed and Scriptures Explained 1930-1985, 1986 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society), pp. 361-362; Jehovah's Witnesses -- Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, 1993 (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania), pp. 258, 577-578, 683.

¹⁴ The Proclaimers book states on pages 577-578 about the printing of The Golden Age that at first they had an outside firm print The Golden Age for them, as they did with their other publications. In 1920 though, they started their own printing press and printed The Golden Age themselves. Even though they printed the magazine directly themselves, they continued to conceal to some degree the Society's connection to the magazine during its publication, especially during its first decade.

¹⁵ See for example, "How Vaccines Work," The Golden Age, April 27, 1921, pp. 440-442.

¹⁶ "Miracle Oil" ads: The Golden Age, October 26, 1921, pp. 56-57, December 7, 1921, p. 159, January 18, 1922, p. 255, March 29, 1922, p. 416.

¹⁷ Angels and Women ad: The Golden Age, February 25, 1925, p. 351; Radio-Solar Pad: The Golden Age, May 11, 1921, p. 480; Radium Eye Glasses: The Golden Age, November 9, 1921, p. 95, cf. The Golden Age, March 15, 1922, p. 368.

¹⁸ The Golden Age, December 2, 1925, pp. 139-141. This article however said that the items advertised that might not have been as effective as advertised did not include the Electronic Radio Biola. They said they still had the utmost confidence in the Bible Student invented quack medical device and reproduced several letters of satisfied customers.

¹⁹ The Golden Age: April 22, 1925, p. 452; April 22, 1925, pp. 452-454; February 25, 1925, pp. 332-333.

²⁰ The Golden Age: September 4, 1929, p. 773; April 3, 1929, p. 436; April 17, 1929, pp. 451, 458.

²¹ The Golden Age: March 7, 1925, pp. 359-363; August 8, 1928, pp. 710-713; November 14, 1928, p. 115. See Jerry Bergman, "Aluminum: Satan's Metal and Killer of Millions? The Watchtower's Incredible Crusade Against Aluminum," JW Research Journal, vol. 3, no. 4, Fall, 1996, pp. 9-25.

²² The Golden Age, July 5, 1922, pp. 624-625

²³ The Golden Age: February 25, 1925, pp. 332-334; November 30, 1927, p. 138; April 30, 1930, p. 343 ff.

²⁴ The Golden Age, November 9, 1921, p. 95; The Golden Age, March 15, 1922, p. 368.

²⁵ The Golden Age, June 23, 1920, pp. 606-607.

²⁶ The Golden Age, August 25, 1926, pp. 749-754; November 28, 1928, pp. 147-148; March 18, 1931, pp. 404-406. See Jerry Bergman, "The Watchtower's Half Century Crusade Against the Germ Theory," JW Research Journal, vol. 4, no. 1, Winter, 1997, pp. 17-26. Vaccines: The Golden Age: May 1, 1929, p. 502; February 4, 1931, pp. 293-294.

²⁷ The Golden Age, April 22, 1925, pp. 452-454. See JW Research, vol. 2, no. 1, Winter, 1995, pp. 15; JW Research, vol. 3, no. 2, Spring, 1996, p. 15.

²⁸ The Golden Age, August 17, 1921, pp. 677-679; July 5, 1922, pp. 622-624.

²⁹ The Golden Age: March 16/30, 1921, pp. 360-361; March 29, 1922, pp. 411-412; May 10, 1922, pp. 501-510; May 24, 1922, pp. 533-536. See, Jerry Bergman, "A History of the Watchtower's Opposition to Organic Evolution," JW Research Journal, vol. 4, no. 2, Spring, 1997, pp. 3-13 and Ken Raines, "The Watchtower's Endorsement of Theistic Evolution," JW Research Journal, Spring, 1997, pp. 14-16.

³⁰ The Golden Age, November 11, 1934, p. 82.

³¹ The Golden Age, January 19, 1921, p. 224; August 3, 1921, p. 668.

³² See Jerry Bergman, "The Watchtower, Quack Science and Homicide," JW Research, vol. 2, no. 1, Winter, 1996, pp. 3-6.

³³ The Golden Age, October 1, 1919, p. 20.

³⁴ The Golden Age, March 3, 1920, pp. 371-372.

³⁵ The Golden Age, April 28, 1920, p. 494.

³⁶ The Golden Age, June 23, 1920, p 604.

³⁷ The Golden Age, May 10, 1922, p. 488.

³⁸ The Golden Age, December 24, 1919, p. 209

³⁹ The Golden Age, January 21, 1920, p. 279

⁴⁰ The Golden Age, November 26, 1919, p. 149

⁴¹ "Everlasting Life on Earth," The Golden Age, August 17, 1921, pp. 675-686.

⁴² The Golden Age, August 30, 1922, p. 758.

⁴³ The Golden Age, March 31, 1920, p. 440.

⁴⁴ The Golden Age, October 1, 1919, pp. 15-16.

⁴⁵ The Golden Age, March 3, 1920, pp. 371-372.

⁴⁶ The Golden Age, October 1, 1919, p. 20.

⁴⁷ The Golden Age, December 24, 1924, p 214.

⁴⁸ See William Dembski, "Converting Matter Into Mind" for a discussion of doppelgängers (under "The Problem of Supervenience and Personal Identity" subheading). For a discussion of the Society's doctrine of the resurrection of life patterns, etc., see, Duane Magnani, Another Jesus.

⁴⁹ The Golden Age, May 16, 1928, p. 540; J. F. Rutherford, Reconciliation, 1928, p. 14.

⁵⁰ The Golden Age, October 6, 1926 said that Abraham would soon speak to the world via radio.