Life, 1917-03-15 · page 38 of 42
Life — March 15, 1917 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines a cigarette advertisement with a satirical section attacking physicians. The top features a Richmond Straight Cut cigarettes ad using nostalgic imagery of a post office scene, marketing the product as refined and aristocratic—"preferred by gentlemen now as then." The bulk of the page presents a coordinated attack on doctors through classical and literary quotations. From Ovid, Pope, Shakespeare, and others, the passage assembles criticisms portraying physicians as incompetent, greedy, and dangerous. Key charges: they write illegible prescriptions, profit from patients' illness, cause deaths, and charge excessive fees ("despairing of his fee to-morrow"). This anti-doctor sentiment reflects early 20th-century American skepticism toward the medical profession—doctors lacked modern standards, often proved ineffective, and were viewed as profit-driven charlatans. The satire suggests "time is the best doctor," implying rest and nature heal better than physicians do.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
~... on that morning the Richmond. friend,-go brought news from our news in the substantial form of packets of cigarettes of Virginia tobacco.” It is like stepping back into a quieter mote courteous period, to dip into the aristocratic contents of a box of “good old Richmond Straight Cuts.” No other cigarette is quite like them. They have a subtle charm and quaint, old-time delicacy to be found only in their pure,"“bright” Virginia tobacco, You will find them just as appealing today as when the first ones were fashioned over two generations ago. yy — RIGIMOND STRAIGHT CUT a | Cigarettes PLAIN OR CORK TIP Fifteen cents Also in attractive tins, 50 for 40 cents: 100 for 75 cents, Sent pre- paid if your dealer can- not supply you. RICHMOND. Vinson USA, Mer? Gerber veativnes Wasa esate Se Preferred by Gentlemen Now as Then Time is gencrally the best doctor. —Ovid. Modern pothecaries, taught the art By doctor's bills to play the doctor's part, Bold in the practice of mistaken rules, Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools.—Pope. Who shall decide when doctors disagree? —Pope. Cur'd yesterday of my disease, I died last night of my physician, —Prior, You tell your doctor that y’re ill; And what does he but write a bill, Of which you need not read one letter; The worse the scrawl, the dose the better. For if you knew but what you take, Though you recover, he must break, —Prior. Physicians, of all men, are most happy; whatever good success soever they have, the world proclaimeth; and what faults they commit, the earth covereth. —Ouarles, Use three Physicians, Still,—first, Dr. Quiet, Next Dr. Merry-man, And Dr. Dyet. —Old Latin book. Throw physic to the dogs; I'll none of it—Shakespeare. In this point All his tricks founder, and he brings his physic After his patient's death Shakespeare. Trust not the physician; his antidotes are poison.—Shakespeare. Conceming Physicians MAN’S own observation on what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. —Bacon. ‘Tis not amiss, cre ye're giv'n o'er, To try one desp'rate med’cine more; For where your case can be no worse, The desp'rat’st is the wiser course. —Butler. Physicians mend or end us, Secundum artem; but although we sneer ‘ In health—when ill we call them to at- tend us, Without the least propensity to jeer. —Byron. See one physician, like a sculler plies, The patient lingers and by inches dies; But two physicians, like a pair of oars, Waft him more swiftly to the Stygian shores. —Dunscomb, “Ts there no hope?” the sick man said. The silent doctor shook his head, And took his leave with signs of sorrow, Despairing of his fee to-morrow.—Gay. In requital ope his leathern scrip, And show me simples of a thousand names, Telling their strange and vigorous facul- ties —Milton, CELEBRATED HATS Acknowledged as the criterion of correct fashions in men’s hats 178-180 Fifth Avenue 181 Broadway NEW YORK ‘Accredited Agencies in all Principal Cities comicbooks.com