Life, 1920-12-02 · page 76 of 97
Life — December 2, 1920 — page 76: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **commercial advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It's a full-page Christmas-themed ad for Piso's cough medicine in Life magazine's advertising section. The illustration shows a domestic scene: people caught in rain/sleet outside a house, establishing the scenario that "exposure" causes colds. The ad emphasizes Piso's 56-year track record as a household remedy, its ease of use for children and adults, and its lack of opiates—a selling point suggesting safety. The "Christmas Life" header indicates this ran in the magazine's holiday issue. At 35 cents, the product targets middle-class families seeking preventive medicine. The mention of a companion "Throat & Chest Salve" suggests a product line. This represents typical early-20th-century patent medicine marketing: using relatable domestic scenarios to sell remedies with broad therapeutic claims, before strict FDA regulations on drug advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“CHRISTMAS LIFE: RN a Se NES Pe i ab oD PONTE ges ROR Cod ‘ame Pom Caught in the Storm ~soaked to the skin XPOSURE so often leads to coughs and colds! To soothe sore, scratchy throats, to relieve hoarseness, to allay cough- ing, Piso’s has been a household standby for 56 years. Children like it because it is so easy to take—grown-ups use it themselves because it is effective. Always keep it in the house—ready for instant use in preventing little ills from growing big. 35c at your druggist’s Contains no opiate * Good for young and old y, Piso’s Throat & Chest Salve is remarkably effective when S 2 used with Piso’s for coughs and colds, Priced also at 35c. = = ‘ 5 ~= = Se ee oe BZ) comicbooks.com