Background
Bartlett Palmer was born on September 10, 1881, in What Cheer, Iowa, United States. He was the son of Daniel David and Olivia Palmer.
Bartlett Joshua Palmer
Bartlett Palmer was born on September 10, 1881, in What Cheer, Iowa, United States. He was the son of Daniel David and Olivia Palmer.
Bartlett Palmer studied in public schools in Davenport, Iowa.
Bartlett Joshua Palmer was trained in chiropractic in his father’s clinic, and the two joined in operating the first chiropractic school. However, they disagreed about almost everything except the word "chiropractic" and soon parted company. Bartlett Joshua Palmer continued to operate the Palmer School of Chiropractic for the rest of his life.
In 1909 Bartlett Palmer initiated the first use of Roentgen rays, better known as X-rays, in chiropractic adjustment. By 1910 he had constructed an X-ray laboratory at the school and invented the word "Spinograph" to describe the work. The use of X-rays split the chiropractic profession, and numerous competing schools sprang up. Undeterred, Bartlett Palmer and a faculty member named Dossa Evans invented the neurocalometer, a device that measured temperature differential areas along the spine. By 1935 he had initiated the B.J. Palmer Chiropractic Research Clinic, amassing the world’s largest collection of skeletal material, including full skeletons and countless full spinal columns.
Bartlett Palmer also became a very early convert to the potential of radio broadcasting. In 1922 he obtained a license to operate station WOC in Davenport (the call letters stood for "World of Chiropractic"), purportedly the second radio station licensed to broadcast in the United States. That venture expanded in 1929 to include station WHO in Des Moines and was incorporated as the Central Broadcasting Company, an NBC affiliate. The first WOC broadcasts were made from the living room of the Palmer home at 828 Brady Street in Davenport. Broadcasts included lectures, musical programs, and many other programs. The main purpose of the radio station was to advertise the chiropractic school and clinic, and Bartlett Palmer was remarkably successful at that. Most radio stations in the 1920s used 8 minutes of advertising for every 15 minutes of broadcasting. Bartlett Palmer cut commercials to two-minute breaks for every 15 minutes of broadcasting. He then wrote a book, Radio Salesmanship, that sold through eight editions. As technology progressed, Bartlett Palmer expanded his broadcasting empire to include television stations affiliated with WOC and WHO in 1947, and also expanded his radio stations to include both AM and FM. At the end of his life, Bartlett Palmer was experimenting with cable television stations, which his son David carried to high art with Coachella Valley TV in Palm Desert, California, and Gulf Coast TV in Naples, Florida, both cable conglomerates.
Inc. Member Radio Pioneers
Radio and television Executives Society
Showmen’s League American
Greater Tampa Showman’s Association
Circus History Society
Circus Model Builders Association
Show Folks American
Tri-City Musical Society Union
Iowa State Sheriffs Association
American Society of Military Chiropractors
Chiropractic Society of Iowa
International Chiropractic Association
Bartlett Palmer married Mabel Heath, and they had one child, Daniel David Palmer, who succeeded to the leadership of Palmer College of Chiropractic, as well as to being head of the radio and television conglomerate.