Life, 1914-01-22 · page 39 of 40
Life — January 22, 1914 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **vintage advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It's a Gordon Dry Gin ad promoting the product as a home remedy for colds—a common marketing practice in early-to-mid 20th century advertising. The ad prescribes a "medicinal" drink: a wine glass of gin with lemon slice and sugar in hot water, to be taken "when retiring" (before bed). It claims the remedy is "aromatic," "refreshing," and "soothing." This reflects an era when alcohol was genuinely marketed and used as patent medicine, before modern pharmaceutical regulation and the FDA's stricter stance on health claims. The high alcohol content (47.3%) would certainly induce sleep, explaining the "soothing" effect. By modern standards, this would be considered misleading health advertising—alcohol doesn't cure colds and promoting it as medicine would be illegal today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FOR THAT COLD! GORDON DRY GIN (SOLD IN BOTTLES ONLY) px PATO OR RIC i) y AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OL 47-39%: fe E - an eg , DRY GIN a f FeeiQUID UNG ETHAN Oe ra | \ am % BOTTLED py A WINE-GLASS OF GORDON Dry GIN ~ ENGEK IN, AS.ice of LEMON ieee LAND, A Lump of Sucar Hort Warer RD) ELS SL IN TAKE WHEN RETIRING AROMATIC — REFRESHING — .SOOTHING- comicbooks.com