Life, 1918-05-02 · page 29 of 40
Life — May 2, 1918 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not satire or a political cartoon—it's a **pharmaceutical advertisement** disguised as medical advice, typical of early 20th-century marketing. The page features a testimonial from "Doctor E. E. Beeman" (the actual product inventor), who endorses his pepsin chewing gum as a cure for dyspepsia (indigestion). The doctor claims pepsin aids digestion while chewing provides "nerve tonic" benefits—reflecting period anxieties about modern "nervous strain." The pitch conflates two problems: overeating and stress-induced indigestion. By framing pepsin gum as therapeutic rather than merely a candy product, Beeman's exploited contemporary medical authority and consumer trust to market a commercial good as health treatment. For modern readers, this exemplifies how early advertising used doctor endorsements and pseudoscientific claims—practices later restricted by food and drug regulations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
id “That attack of dyspepsia of which you are com- i § plaining is due to one of two causes. { # “Either you have over eaten or you have been working under a nervous strain. For food will not a] properly digest when you go to your meals with nerves on edge. 7) | “There isn’t anything serious about this form of Lb! f indigestion and the simplest sort of treatment should &: f bring immediate relief. i “For years, I always recommended the use of Fe pepsin in such cases until, in later years when I had ; put pepsin into chewing gum, I suggested to my pa- Bl ; tients that they chew a stick of Beeman’s Original Pepsin Gum for ten minutes after each meal. “Pepsin is good for stomach ailments, while the chewing of the gum acts as a nerve tonic.” AMERICAN CHICLE COMPANY t Doctor E. E. Beeman Made in Canada, by the Canadian Chewing Gum Company, Limited | xun_ | comicbooks.com