Judge, 1915-06-05 · page 19 of 28
Judge — June 5, 1915 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **patent medicine advertisement**, not satire. The page promotes Nujol, a mineral oil laxative made by Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), positioned as a cure for constipation. The ad's key claims reflect early 20th-century medical thinking: it blames constipation on modern sedentary lifestyles and "harmful laxatives," then promotes mineral oil as a gentler alternative endorsed by Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, a real English surgeon known for advocating this treatment. A notable detail: the ad mentions Russian mineral oil's supply has been "cut off by the war"—likely referencing WWI disruptions—and positions Nujol as an American substitute. For modern readers, this represents an era when Standard Oil diversified into pharmaceuticals, and when such remedies were advertised in prestigious magazines like *Judge* without FDA regulation. The "scientific" framing and celebrity doctor endorsement were standard marketing tactics of the period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Constipation 1s Caused— by sedentary life, quick lunches, lack of sufficient ex- ercise, and by the use of harmful laxatives and cathar- tics which aggravate the very condition they are sup- posed to cure. Constipation 1s Cured— by a return to regular habits of eating and exercise, by breaking off the laxative habit, and by the use of a pure mineral oil as an internal lubricant. A PURE WHITE “MINERAL OIL The mineral oil treatment for constipa- tion, first advocated by Sir William Ar- buthnot Lane, the distinguished English surgeon, is now being successfully pre- scribed by doctors all over the world. Nujol is equal in every respect to the best Russian mineral oil, the supply of which has been cut off by the war. It is abso- lutely freed from every impurity. Write for “The Rational Treatment of Constipa- tion,” an informative treatise on constipation and the mineral oil treatment. Ask for Nujol at your druggist’s, or send 75c. in money or stamps for a trial pint bottle. Address Dept. M STANDARD OIL COMPANY (New Jersey) Bayonne New Jersey comicbooks.com