Life, 1912-07-18 · page 29 of 44
Life — July 18, 1912 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a straightforward product advertisement, not satire. It promotes Calox "Oxygen Tooth Powder" by McKesson & Robbins, a real pharmaceutical company. The ad features a well-dressed man with an exaggerated smile, holding a toothbrush and displaying the product bottle. The appeal emphasizes Calox's unique selling point: it generates oxygen when moistened, which supposedly prevents decay, reduces tartar, and freshens breath—claims that no competing dentifrice allegedly offered. The advertisement promises samples and booklets free on request, with the powder priced at 25 cents at drugstores. A matching toothbrush is also available for three cents. This represents early-twentieth-century marketing in *Life* magazine, using an enthusiastic male endorser to sell dental hygiene products with pseudoscientific oxygen-generation claims.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Worth While Dentifrice It is very much worth your while to use as efficient a dentifrice as Calox is universally acknowledged to be. It is 100% efficient as a tooth powder and in addition possesses the property which no other.dentifrice has of generating oxygen when moist and it is this oxygen which prevents decay, lessens formation of tartar, acts as an antiseptic mouth wash and deodorizes the breath. Sample and Booklet free on request. All Druggists, 25c. Ask for the Calox Tooth Brush. Reaches every part of every tooth and cleans them perfectly. Every brush guaranteed. — Price 3c. McKesson & Robbins NEW YORK comicbooks.com