Remembering the Mark Eden Bust Developer

As you get older, unsolicited memories pop into your head from long ago. Today, I remembered the Mark Eden Bust Developer.

Yes, I bought one back in the late 1970s. Back then I weighed 95 pounds and there just wasn’t enough meat to fill me out anywhere.

The ads were mesmerizing. Busty women promising that if I bought this device and used it religiously, I could have big, beautiful bosoms just like them.

Fast forward thirty years to when I finally got married. One of the things my husband fell for was my gullibility. If I was gullible in my forties, you can imagine how much more gullible I was in my late teens.

So, the Mark Eden Bust Developer arrived in the mail. It was a pink, spring-loaded clam. You were supposed to push the clam shell closed, against a very stubborn spring. It was HARD to push that danged thing closed! Either that or I was a 95 pound weakling. Oh wait, I actually was, LOL!

It wasn’t enough to push the clam closed, you had to do it in several positions, like holding your arms out straight away from your body and then squeezing the Mark Eden Bust Developer some number of times. Then doing it again with your arms straight down and held close to the body, and again up over your head.

Then from another position, and another, like laying down. I may not be remembering exactly, but I’d swear that one position involved laying on the bed on your back, with your upper body sort of hanging off over the edge, squeezing that bust developer as if your life depended on it.

I tried, I really did, but it was HARD. So many repetitions in so many positions, fighting that very powerful spring. I failed to gain even a smidgeon of bosom, though I’m sure the blame would fall on my inability to stick to the regime as it was laid out, day after day, going through all those positions and squeezing hard.

In looking up the Mark Eden Bust Developer online after all these years, I came across an article claiming that long before I ever ordered the product, the United States Post Office was trying to shut him down for mail fraud. The Post Office believed that the ads were highly misleading.

The Post Office went after the Mark Eden company, which was run by Jack Feather, who in turn sued the Post Office. This whole legal battle started in 1965, more than ten years before I ever ordered the gadget. They were raking in so much money from their various businesses that they could spend millions on legal defense and appeals.

Right around the time I mailed off my $9.95 + 50 cents postage, the Post Office conducted a study at the University of Arizona to test the device. The study determined that the device was “valueless” according to a February 17, 1985 newspaper article by Nancy Rivera entitled, “Mail-Fraud Charges Dogged Feathers” in the Los Angeles Times.

After a long, drawn out battle that lasted almost twenty years, the Post Office prevailed and in 1982, Jack Feather was indicted on 11 counts of mail fraud for products that included the Mark Eden Bust Developer, and the Slim-Skins pants that attached to a vacuum cleaner.

The Feathers were big news back in the day and another article appeared in The Dispatch newspaper of Lexington, N.C. on May 3, 1983 entitled, “Promoters Agree To Settle Mail Fraud for $1.1 Million.” This article included a snippet of the Slim-Skins ad which promised to whittle off a little over 15 inches in just 25 minutes. All you had to do was put on the Slim-Skins, snap the attached hose to your vacuum cleaner, and turn on the vacuum.

You can actually find copies of the old Mark Eden Bust Developer ads online, though the Slim-Skins ads are more difficult to dig up. Just go to Google and do an image search for “Mark Eden Bust Developer” and you’ll not only see the ads that sucked me in, but the device itself.

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    9 Responses to Remembering the Mark Eden Bust Developer

    1. Madlyn Doey says:

      This is Madlyn Andres again . I am now 70teen and still sporting decent bust.
      I would call this an isometric exerciser instead of a bust developer.
      But I am sill very happy with it.

    2. Alicia says:

      I’m 67 and just yesterday while at the gym and chatting with friends, out of nowhere my long-ago Marc Eden experience popped into my head from years ago when I was flat-chested and desperate for a “real” woman’s bosom. So tonight unable to sleep in the middle of the night, Marc Eden once again popped into my head and I googled it and found your post which had me laughing from the shared experience. I must’ve seen the ad in the back of a magazine and I surreptitiously ordered one without my parent’s knowledge. I remember running out to get the mail every day so my parent’s wouldn’t find out. Like you I quickly gave up, feeling that it didn’t work but part of me wondering if it was me who failed to continue with all those damn exercises. I’m a lot less gullible now, though still occasionally fall for a cream that offers to vanish all those signs of age, but I’m happy to report that I’ve happily accepted my still-small breasts and other real or imagined faults. One of the advantages of age: acceptance and appreciation for who we are. Thanks for the chuckle.

    3. Madlyn Doey says:

      I purchased the Mark Eden exerciser back in 1976 and have used it off and on. It sat in the box with my work out things for maybe 15 years and forgotten. I am now 65 recovering from cancer. My body lost all it’s muscle mass and weight. I am back at working out as I have overcome this dreaded disease and came across my long forgotten Mark Eden Bust Developer. I have been working out with it for a couple months now 3 days a week. At 65 my bust is as nice as when I was 25 and one size larger. Went from 34C to 34D. I am still happy with it and it still works great.
      Sometimes testing takes many years I am a believer in this product. When I worked out with it as a younger person and after having two children it kept my bust nice. I never believe stories about altering ones body to be what it is not naturally meant to be but I do believe in excessing and keeping it as healthy as possible. This product is great – I live in Langley BC Canada

    4. Sandra says:

      I also bought the Mark Eden and it worked for me as well. I went to see my Grandma and she said ” honey you have the prettiest breasts”. It added lift and muscle to my chest area. I used it religiously every day and was very pleased with the results. I even ordered a new spring!

    5. Steve says:

      As a young man going through puberty in the 1970, the Mark Eden bust developer ad girls made quite an impression on me. Those girls and I spent many enjoyable intimate moments together.

    6. Joyce says:

      I did not buy the bust machine, but, I did buy the slim skins pants. Did you buy these as well?

      • Allie says:

        I didn’t. I weighed 100 pounds soaking wet when I bought the Mark Eden Bust Developer. There wasn’t much of me anywhere back then. Time has a way of fixing that for you, LOL!

    7. Jeani says:

      I also purchased the Mark Eden…I used it…and it worked! I wish I could get another one. I purchased the latest one called Curves….but it is difficult and painful for me to use because I have arthritis in my hands. The Mark Eden was so easy and comfortable to use.

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