Life, 1915-06-03 · page 42 of 52
Life — June 3, 1915 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, dominated by a Pears' Soap advertisement featuring a hand holding soap and claims of economy and purity ("absolutely pure"). The satirical content appears in the center column under "Traditions and Superstitions Regarding Health." This is a **critique of folk medicine and quack remedies**—both historical superstitions (copper wire for rheumatism, red flannel for sore throats) and contemporary medical claims made by early 20th-century doctors. The piece's point: modern physicians' dubious treatments (hydrophobia serum for unknown diseases, poison as medicine) are essentially **no better than old wives' tales**. The author suggests that if forced to choose between traditional folk remedies and contemporary "scientific" medicine, one might reasonably prefer the former. This reflects period skepticism toward early medical pseudoscience and the tension between folk wisdom and emerging medical establishment authority—a notably modern debate dressed in early 1900s language.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Even the last thin wafer end ts not wasted —ttadheres quick- ly and firmly to the fresh | The Beit tie Cheapest” There is true economy in PEARS because it is all pure soap—absolutely without waste —and particularly low in price. Pears’ | ooap | for many generations the world’s standard for quality—the finest soap possible to produce at any price, is also the very cheapest soap that you can use. It is made from the finest in- gredients obtainable, blended with e treme care and refined to the very highest degree—not almost pure, but ABSOLUTELY pure. PEARS thoroughly cl and leaves the skin in a healthy condition—it is far more ben than any cosmetic could possibly he. cake of Pears’ Soap goes through a drying process for a full year before leaving the works, which removes every particle of water. A cake of Pears is all soap; that i it lasts so much longer than ordi- ses the pores The quality of Pears’ Soap is not ap- proached--its durability greater than an other; yet you can buy the wn: where ‘at not over 15¢ a ca surely is no need to use or when you can get “the best” at so low a price. Try PEARS now at our expense and bring the charm of this delightful soap into your daily life. A. & F. PEARS, Ltd. The largest manufacturers of high grade toilet soaps in the world. For a generous trial cake of Tears’ Unscented yp send your address and 4c in stamps to cover mailing cost, to V R JANVIER, United States Agent, 419-1 C: Street, New York Cit: | | ball lel e Traditions and Superstitions Regarding Health “How many people believe that gold wedding rings rubbed on the eye will cure styes? That green apples cure colic? That earrings improve sight? That a copper wire round the waist pre- vents rheumatism? That only nasty medicines cure? That whisky is good for pretty nearly any ailment? That the moon affects lunatics? That tubercu- losis is hereditary? That measles is in- evitable? That typhoid comes from dead weeds or fish in drinking water? That red flannel (must be red!) is good for sore throats? That sewer gas is poison? That smallpox can be. tele- phoned from one person to another? That mosquitoes come from decomposing leaves? That malaria is due to night air? That robust people do not have smallpox? That scarlet fever scales are infectious? That raw beefsteak is good for a black eye? That drinking cow's blood fresh and warm cures consump- tion? That the smell from a horse stable cures consumption? That if medicine is good for sick people, it must be still better for well ones? That cating tur- nips makes one brave? That onions cure or prevent smallpox? That dead bodies necessarily breed a pestilence? That rusty nails produce tetanus (lockjaw) ? These and many more like myths make up the fragmentary creeds on health that we have inherited."—Minnesota Public Health Association, Also, how many people believe that the running matter of a calf’s belly will prevent the symotic disease curiously named “smallpox? That the watery part of a di: ‘ed horse's blood will cure phtheria? That the germs of typhoid will cure typhoid? That poison pushed to its “physiological effect" will cure disease? That hydrophobia serum will prevent a disease not known? That cerebro-spinal meningitis will cure ditto? And so on, and on, and on! Really. when one comes to comparing the old superstitions of “the people” with those put out to-day by gentlemen who claim to be modern scientific physicians, one is apt (if wise) to take “the people's” remedies—if forced to take either, which God forbid!—to those which our legis- lators often ignorantly force on us by their edicts Homeopathic Envoy. THR “ITAPPY ENDING” Up in Smoke Thoseworriesthat seemed so large to you in the rush of the city vanish in the camp-firre’s smokeinNorthern New York's zest- ful air. There’s a delightful escape foryou from the city’s care if you travel over the Delaware & Hudson LINES Lake Champlain, with its histori- Lake George or the cks you seck there's no more comfortable way of getting there than that offered by the dependable D. & H. “A Summer Paredi a book full ‘of useful facts set out in absorbing manner, Send 6 cents for it today M. J. POWERS, G.P. A. Albany, N. Y. New York City Information Bureau: 1354 Broadway Trial Order of 100 for $2.00 <*' PS You Can Feel the OXYGEN purify your mouth when you use Calox The OXYGEN Tooth Powder Oxy igen is nature’s great puri- | fier. That’s why CALOX pre- vents dental troubles by removing the cause of | tooth decay. All Druggists, 25c Sample and Booklet Free ip Jou mention your Druggist. McKESSON & ROBBINS : 91 Fulton St. New York Ladies" Sizes with and wtthe Per fame All shipments to Plato Partages, MARMAY MFG. CO., Dept. B. 136-138 Seeth dih Street, "Phadelpi 39 Stops snoring and mouth breathing. “Don't-Snore Money Refunded if it Don't. Ask for Booklet. Thos. B. Morton Co. (Inc.) 1? Starks Bidg., Louisvills, Ky. q « can't true? womer fear ¢ Get Sen ing de TRADE. comicbooks.com