Life — June 2, 1910 — page 2: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a **product advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes "The Safe Table Water" from Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Co. of Nashua, New Hampshire. The image depicts an elegant dinner scene with well-dressed diners seated at a table, framed within a stylized bottle shape. Two actual product bottles flank the scene below. The advertisement emphasizes health benefits—claiming the water "Protects Health," "Satisfies Thirst," and "Aids Digestion." The copy describes it as combining "good qualities of the best lithia waters with unusual purity and richness in alkaline properties," recommended by physicians. The sparkling water came in three sizes: two effervescent (carbonated) versions and one still version in half-gallon bottles. This reflects early 20th-century marketing of mineral waters as medicinal tonics.