Life, 1919-07-03 · page 51 of 52
Life — July 3, 1919 — page 51: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not satire. It promotes Hires root beer by contrasting it with generic "root-beer." The illustration shows two men in formal dress examining a large Hires bottle labeled "It is pure." The ad's argument centers on **authenticity and natural ingredients**: Hires contains "sixteen roots, barks, herbs and berries" from around the world, versus artificially flavored competitors. The text emphasizes Hires is "genuine" and "natural," won't cause "unnatural craving," and is safe ("cannot harm you in any way")—claims typical of early 20th-century patent medicine marketing, when consumers worried about artificial additives. The humor is mild: the ad urges customers to "rehearse" by saying "Hires" at fountains, treating brand-name loyalty as something needing practice. This reflects an era when "natural" and "pure" were powerful marketing claims, and companies competed on authenticity rather than flavor variety.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ar Hires All IRES on hot days, cool days, any days atall. Always ask for ‘‘Hires.’’ There’s a difference between Hires and mere “‘root- beer.”” Hires is genuine. Hires is natural. Ordinary rootbeers are artificially flavored. But Hires—let us tell you why you should always ask for ‘‘Hires.”’ Hires is cooling, not just for the time being—but really cooling. It quenches thirst. It invigorates and leaves a whole- some wish for more. Drink it to your thirst’s content—it cannot harm you in any way. There’s nothing in Hires to unduly stimulate—nothing in it to create an unnatural craving. Hires the Time And the reason of it all is that Hires is Nature’s own products—sixteen of them—put together to make a natural drink. Yet you pay no more than for an artificially flavored substitute. There are juices of roots, herbs, berries and barks, and pure cane sugar brought to our doors from the world over to go into Hires That's why you must say ‘‘Hires”’ to get Hires. Rehearse today by stepping up to the first fountain fora fizzing, foaming mug, or glass, ot paper cupful. It’s just as good one way as an- other, so it’s Hires. But be sure you get Hires everytime. Say‘ Hires.” Hires is also carbonated by licensed bottlers— sold in bottles so you can have Hires at home. THE CHARLES E. HIRES COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PA. Hires contains the juices of sixteen roots, barks, herbs and berries comicbooks.com