Life, 1919-11-13 · page 33 of 36
Life — November 13, 1919 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a straightforward **product advertisement**, not political satire. The left page promotes Beeman's chewing gum with a portrait of the (apparent) founder or spokesman endorsing the product. The ad makes **health claims typical of early 20th-century marketing**: that chewing gum stimulates saliva flow, which naturally cleanses teeth. It specifically addresses children eating "soft food" nowadays, arguing gum provides a substitute for harder foods that would naturally strengthen teeth. The right page shows **gift suggestions** from Daniel Low & Co., including a writing case, cigarette case, electric lamp, and book ends—typical upscale merchandise for holiday shopping. There is **no satire or political content** here. This represents genuine period advertising before modern FDA regulations restricted health claims on consumer products. The claims about gum's dental benefits would be considered misleading today.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The secret of sound, white teeth is a clean mouth HE chewing of my Original Pepsin Gum by Tessin the flow of the salivary juices—which are nature’s cleansing properties for the teeth— will help to preserve and keep in perfect condition the teeth of men, women and children. In the case of children who nowadays eat sucha large proportion of soft food, it is absolutely neces- sary to provide them with some substitute for the hardex foods which nature intended should contrib- ute to the strengthening and preservation of the teeth. Chew my Original Pepsin Gum regularly, ten minutes after meals, and you will undoubtedly notice its beneficial effect on your teeth. AMERICAN CHICLE COMPANY New York Cleveland — Chicago Kansas City San Francisco EASE. i iin as Writing Case $2.75 5% Electric Boudoir Lamp Dantex Low 6:G ESTABLISHED 186: 221 TOWN HOUSE SQUAR: SALEM MASS. Au comicbooks.com