‘The Secret of Life, Health and Rejuvenation’ by O. C. J. G. L. Overbeck of Chantry House, Grimsby 1934.

An original, 19th edition of Overbeck’s publication (50 pages). The publication comes with an order form and many unsolicited testimonials. The High-Power Rejuvenator cost £9-10-0 and the Popular Rejuvenator was £6-10-0. More images to follow.

A brief history of the life of O. C. J. G. L. Overbeck (1860-1937):

Otto Overbeck was British but was descended from a distinguished Dutch family. His parents, Joseph Julian Overbeck, doctor of divinity and doctor of philosophy, and (Katharine) Josephine Fredericka Overbeck were born in Prussia and lived in London from before 1861. Otto was born in Islington or Holloway, London on 10th May 1860 (or 1861). As a young man, he studied at Bonn University in Germany. In 1891, he was lodging in Grimsby and working as an analyst.

Otto Christop Joseph Gerhardt Ludwig Overbeck is famous to some for the fact that, in 1902, he landed a carp at Croxby Pond, near Grimsby, weighing 17lb 8oz, the first British record. Otto Overbeck lived at 5 Bull Ring, Grimsby. As a highly qualified industrial chemist, he became the Scientific Director of Hewitt Brothers’ Brewery in Grimsby.

As well as working at the Grimsby brewery for 37 years, he was an inventor. From the late 1920s, Otto Overbeck marketed various models of his “Overbeck Rejuvenator”, an electrotherapy machine. Patents in many countries were taken out from about 1925. “Overbeck Rejuvenator” models were only available from Chantry House, Grimsby. The ‘Overbeck’s Rejuvenator’ company was still based at Chantry House in 1948, over ten years after the death of the inventor. The company was then run by Edwin C. Ayre. The company trademark was still the signature of Otto Overbeck.

Otto Overbeck sold his rejuvenator worldwide and made a fortune. Following his retirement in 1928, he retired to ‘Sharpitor’, Salcombe in Devon. His large, Edwardian house with superb views is now ‘Overbeck’s Museum and Garden’, a National Trust property. A brace of carp, with a painting of Croxby Pond, as a backdrop can be seen in the museum. The Croxby view was painted by Overbeck himself.

Note: Otto Overbeck was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of the Geological Society of London and the Chemical Society. He was a collector of all manner of artefacts, art and tropical plants and almost made a name for himself for his other inventions.

Note: Otto Overbeck was a keen patron of boys’ clubs. In 1929, he was charged with indecent assaults against boys from the Grimsby Dolphin Swimming Club. He was acquitted on all counts following his trial in Derbyshire. The newspapers of the time reported the case widely. It appears that Otto Overbeck went on to support boys’ clubs in the years after the trial.

Note: Otto’s father, Rev. Joseph Julian Overbeck (1822-1905), born in Cleves-Rhenish, Prussia, eventually became a professor of German at the Royal Military College. He lived at 16 Girdlers Road, Hammersmith. Josephine died in 1887.

Research by Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum.