Judge, 1911-12-30 · page 24 of 25
Judge — December 30, 1911 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Postum cereal advertisement** disguised as editorial content, not political satire. The image shows a bearded man (appears to be a generic "unsuccessful" figure) with the headline "If Coffee don't agree use POSTUM—'There's a Reason.'" The ad argues that coffee interferes with nerves and health, while Postum—a caffeine-free grain beverage—provides necessary nutrients (gluten and phosphates) for brain and nerve function. The tagline "There's a Reason" was Postum's actual slogan. This reflects early 1900s health marketing, when Postum aggressively claimed coffee caused "nervous disorders" and other ailments. The "bearded failure" imagery suggests that proper nutrition (via Postum) leads to success and ambition. There is no political cartoon here—merely period advertising pseudoscience promoting a commercial product.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
the laurels, Bi ecas Geiss shee ON dene ‘of to cause one or more of the many eater comca, tee cada Be “There’s a Reason’ Postum Cereal pneieeas attle Greek, ates 0.8. ‘ambition to. “be some one” would suggest a change. Postum furnishes the gluten and phosphates ‘of grains required by Nature to nourish Brain ‘aid Nerves with food. When made right, that is, boiled 15 to 20 minutes after boil- ing begins, it has a delicious taste similar to ‘ that of the mild, high-grade Javas. jHealthy Nerves and Brain are an asset. for POSTUM. Canadian Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., ‘Windsor, Ontario, Canada, comicbooks.com