Judge, 1897-07-17 · page 11 of 16
Judge — July 17, 1897 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Pabst Malt Extract as a health tonic for women, appearing in *Judge* magazine around 1949. The ad features a testimonial from an unnamed woman endorsing the product's ability to restore health and vitality to run-down, exhausted women. She describes a specific case where a thin woman with an underdeveloped baby improved visibly after using "Best" Tonic. **The satire**, if present, is **subtle**: the ad uses the format of heartfelt personal testimony to market what was essentially a malt-based patent medicine. The emphasis on women's nervous exhaustion and vitality reflects early 20th-century attitudes toward female health and "female weakness." The mountainous landscape illustration serves as generic aspirational imagery suggesting health and vigor. The tagline "Perfection in Brewing is Reached in America" connects the product to national pride in American manufacturing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Womanly A sweet woman, the picture of health, speaking with that enthu- siasm which comes from a sense of gratitude warmly expressed, said, “I don’t see why you do not send out women to talk to women about the merits of Pabst Malt Extract, The ‘Best’ Toni There are so many women that are run down, with nerves shattered and a lack of vitality, feeling a sort of restless indecision which is an outgrowth of over-exertion, that if you could get a woman who had been through the experience that I have, one who knows as thoroughly as I do how ‘‘Best’’ Tonic will build one up, and who has enough earnest-, ness to tell them about it, you would certainly have a largely in- creased sale. There was Mrs. —who was thin as she could be, and her poor little baby puny and undev oped; when I told her about Tonic she went to her physician nd said, ‘Is it good?’ ,’ and in three weel ought to see the difference. Why, the improvement is something even the baby feels it and sit. Now I tell you the wo- men of this country ought to know about this, and Iam going to do my part to tell them.’’ Pabst Malt Extract, The “Best” Tonic. BINNER Curcace PERFECTION IN BREWING IS REACHED IN AMERICA comicbooks.com