Life, 1913-02-13 · page 2 of 44
Life — February 13, 1913 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Wrigley's Spearmint gum advertisement**, not political satire. The ad uses humor to promote chewing gum by depicting two office workers—one trying to leave for lunch while his colleague physically restrains him. The joke plays on conflicting signals: the watch says it's too early for lunch, but appetite suggests otherwise. The ad claims gum serves a practical purpose: it suppresses hunger before lunch while also "brightens teeth and aids digestion, and purifies breath." This was typical early-20th-century advertising rhetoric, making health claims that would later be regulated. The bottom tagline, "The Flavor Lasts," emphasizes product durability—a selling point in an era when gum quality varied significantly.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lunch Yet! Don’t go because your watch says so. Chew SPEARMINT You'll lunch because your appetite says so. And the appetite-sharpening titbid is equally useful and en- joyable after lunch. It brightens teeth and aids digestion, and . purifies breath, besides BUY IT BY THE BOX —of any dealer, It costs little by the package, but less by the box. Look for the Spear The Flavor Lasts comicbooks.com