Thompson-Plaster X-Ray Company

Sellers of X-ray equipment and supplies; headquarters were located in Leesburg, Va.; principals were Hugh Ashby Thompson (1861-1941) and William Emory Plaster (1887-1936).

Thompson-Plaster X-Ray Company, Inc. had its headquarters on the southeast corner of Loudoun and King Streets in downtown Leesburg, Va. The building was erected in 1900, and served as the home of H.A. Thompson and his wife Hannah. The company thrived in the twenties selling x-ray equipment and supplies to hospitals throughout the U.S. Their most popular machine was the Thompson Plaster Cabinet which proved to be a versatile piece of medical machinery. Its goal was to treat an array of diseases, such as atrophied muscles, using precisely measured electric currents- a developing medical field in the early 20th century known as electrotherapy. Thompson and Plaster founded their company at a time when electrotherapy had become a fad. While many patients put hope in the quick promises of electrotherapy for everything from muscle aches to sinuses the medically competent referred to it as "quackery," because only the slightest, if any, results were ever achieved. Often the procedure caused more pain than healing. By around 1930, the medical community and the federal government acted to prevent abuses of electrotherapy, and problems quickly dissipated. It is unclear why Thompson-Plaster X-Ray Company closed their doors some time in the 1920s. It seems likely, though further research would be needed to corroborate, that the company declined as the electrotherapy fad passed. By 1930, Plaster was working as a real estate agent in Loudoun County. Towards the end of Thompson's life, he was working in the developing field of insurance sales.

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