The Green Wrist Mania

Suddenly the discreetly worded ads are popping up everywhere. Starkly simple copper bracelets, the pitchmen proclaim, are now being worn in the very best of circles. Jet setters, film stars, top athletes and even a few sober members of the upper bourgeoisie have taken to the fad. Why? Though the ads say nothing about it, to avoid the laws against false and misleading advertising claims, the beautiful people are convinced that the copper bangles* will miraculously alleviate the pain of a variety of ailments, ranging from arthritis to sciatica to chronic backache.

Why this belief in the efficacy of a strip of copper? No users can really explain their faith, though they all talk vaguely about body electricity, excess acids and even outright magic. But the most common (and completely unfounded) belief--held since the time of the ancient Romans--is that arthritis sufferers lack sufficient copper in their systems; thus users of the bracelets are somehow supposed to compensate for the deficiency. Golfer Bert Yancey credits his copper bracelet with easing an aching elbow in time for him to win the $25,000 Bing Crosby Open at Pebble Beach last January. Hollywood Producer Dick Brown feels that the bracelet "has definitely helped" his bad back. His wife, Eva Gabor, also is a believer. Actor John Forsythe, a tennis nut, says that his tennis elbow was cured by the bracelet. "I know some people say it's kooky to believe this," he says, "but I really think somehow it works. I don't know how." Vince Lombardi, coach of the Washington Redskins, and Jockey Johnny Longden agree; both are wearers.

Quackery Racket. Medical authorities generally are hostile. The Arthritis Foundation considers promotion of copper bracelets as an arthritis cure "part of the arthritis quackery racket that annually grosses upward of $400 million a year in the U.S." Los Angeles Orthopedic Expert Dr. Robert Kerlan is an outspoken opponent of the bracelet boom. "It's asinine, ridiculous and of no value whatsoever," he says, and warns that the bracelet may actually be harmful "in that it keeps a wearer from getting proper diagnosis." He admits only that "it might be a good thing for the dermatologists, though--all those wrists turned green." Some doctors are tolerant. "As long as you think it helps and you don't bother me," Hollywood Columnist Sidney Skolsky's physician told him, "it's O.K."

Part of the Juju. The latest version of the copper bracelet fad began in Britain during the early '60s and quickly spread to the Continent. In both London and Paris, the green-stained wrist has become a mark of distinction. Among the wearers are the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Lord Snowdon, the Marquess of Bath (who thoughtfully sells the bracelets to sightseers at a souvenir stand outside his castle), Pierre Cardin, Coco Chanel and Stavros Niarchos. Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, the eminent historian, has been wearing his bracelet for three or four years and says its effects are "frightfully good." He admits that his wrist turns green, but then "all that is part of the juju, what?" Lanning Roper, garden editor of London's Sunday Times, another believer, has discovered an added benefit. "During the last hot spell," he told TIME'S Betty Suyker, "I took it off for a few days and suddenly I felt old."

Predictably enough, the green wrist cult has developed its own rules. The bracelet must be closely fitted, for instance, and its ends must not come into contact with each other. Once clamped on, it must not be removed--not even for bathing. "One must never clean them off," says Movie Director Herbert Ross. "They clean themselves off, although it is O.K. to wash the green and black off your wrist." After about two years, the makers wisely claim, the bracelets lose their power and must be replaced--a sort of magical planned obsolescence.

*Not to be confused with the brass bracelets worn by some Viet Nam veterans. These are handed out by Montagnard tribesmen to visitors who have joined them on patrols, but carry no medical magic and are meant to symbolize blood brotherhood.

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