Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Readers also credited Wallace's novel with making Jesus's story more believable by providing vivid descriptions of the Holy Land and inserting his own character of Judah into scenes from the gospels. One former alcoholic, George Parrish from Kewanee, Illinois, wrote the author a letter crediting "Ben-Hur" with causing him to reject alcohol and find religion. Parrish remarked: "It seemed to bring Christ home to me as nothing else could". Others who were inspired by the novel dedicated themselves to Christian service and became missionaries, some of them helping to translate "Ben-Hur" into other languages. This kind of religious support helped
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ Royal Milling Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a line of Ben-Hur toiletries, including Ben-Hur perfume from the Andrew Jergens Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Other consumer goods included Ben-Hur bicycles, cigars, automobiles, clocks, and hair products. The Ben-Hur name and images also appeared in magazine advertisements for Honeywell, Ford, and Green Giant products. After MGM released the 1959 film adaptation of the novel, the studio licensed hundreds of companies to create related products, including "Ben-Hur"-related clothing, household goods, jewelry, food products, crafts, and action figures. In Alfred Bester's short story "Disappearing Act" (1953), one of the characters, an apparent time traveler,