Judge, 1923-07-07 · page 36 of 36
Judge — July 7, 1923 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **product advertisement masquerading as editorial content**—a common practice in early 20th-century magazines. Two men camping in the woods discuss constipation and digestive health. The satire targets **desk workers and urban life**: the city-dwelling "Bill" suffers from constipation caused by sedentary work, poor restaurant food, and lack of exercise. His friend attributes this to abandoning "Nature's" intended lifestyle. The humor lies in the **contrast between rustic health and urban malfunction**—outdoor living cures what city life breaks. However, the advertisement's real pitch is that **Nujol (a mineral oil lubricant by Standard Oil) mimics nature's own intestinal lubrication**, making it superior to harsh laxatives that create dependency. The message: modern desk workers can't escape the city, so they need a product that restores natural function without the drawbacks of chemical laxatives. It's dressed as frontier wisdom but sells pharmaceutical intervention.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Tip from Ma Nature “yee think of it, Bill. One more _ perfect day, and then—back to the sad, old grind—to res- taurant food, city air and that listless ‘how-I-hate- to-get-up-in - the- morning” feeling. Out here in the woods I really live. The old blood fairly zips through my veins. I eat like a horse and sleep like Rip Van Winkle.” “Of course! In the wilderness you are living as Ma Nature intended you should live. You eat the right sort of food, really work your muscles and get a proper amount of sleep. Before you came out to the woods you were poisoned.” “Poisoned! What do you mean?” “Self-poisoned—food waste stag- nating in your colon. It’s a trouble that afflicts more than seventy-five per cent. of the people. You see, mental workers don’t develop any abdominal muscles to speak of. That’s bad. Then we don’t eat the sort of food Nature intended we should eat—and that’s bad. So slug- gish bowels soon begin to plague us and constipation is the result.” “How about laxatives?” “You know what happens when you take those drugs. You get a partial movement or one so violent that your system is exhausted for a day or two afterward. The next dose has to be stronger because the bowels are weakened. In time you are a confirmed victim of the laxative habit and constipation is chronic.” “Well, what is the answer, then, for us slaves of the desk?” “Nujol. It will put you right as a trivet, as it has done me. You see, Nujol is a lubricant which medical science has found is very close in its action to the natural lubricating liquid produced in the _ intestines. Now, when you are constipated not enough of Nature’s lubricant is formed in the bowel to keep the food waste soft and moving. Nujol, which is a gentle lubricant, acts like the natural lubricant, and thus secures regular bowel movements by Nature’s own method—lubrication. It is pleasant to take too, and absolutely harmless.” “Say, that must be great stuff. Write the name down on a piece of paper and I'll buy a bottle or two at my druggist’s when we get back. I want to keep the regular habits I picked up out here.” For Constipation Nujol REG. U.S. PAT. OFF, A Lubricant—not a Laxative Guaranteed by Nujol Laboratories, Standard Oil Co. (New Jersey) PRESS OF WILLIAM GRERN, NEW YORK comicbooks.com