Life, 1907-12-12 · page 20 of 20
Life — December 12, 1907 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Schlitz brewery advertisement** from December 12, 1907, not a political cartoon or satire. The page promotes Schlitz beer by emphasizing manufacturing purity and hygiene. The ad's key claims include: bottles washed four times by machinery, filtered air in cooling rooms, sterilization after sealing, and extended aging in glass-lined tanks to prevent "biliousness" (digestive upset). The text explicitly states these measures aren't for taste or appearance, but to ensure "absolute purity" and health. The decorative hop illustrations frame the message. The slogan "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" anchors the brand identity. For modern readers: this reflects early 20th-century anxieties about food and beverage safety—before FDA regulation—when breweries competed by claiming superior sanitation. The emphasis on health-consciousness shows how beer was marketed as wholesome rather than intoxicating, a common advertising strategy of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
On purity than on all other costs of our brewing. We go to extremes. For instance, we wash every bottle four times by machinery. We filter even the air in our cooling rooms. We sterilize every bottle after it is sealed. Then we age Schlitz beer, in glass-lined tanks, so long that it cannot cause biliousness. Not to make the beer taste better, or look better. Not to secure any apparent advantage. But to insure absolute purity. To give you a beer that is healthful. Don’t you want it? Ask for the Brewery Bottling. See that the cork or : q() crown is branded Schlitz. he Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous. comicbooks.com