Life — May 5, 1921 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Paradise Water Advertisement This is primarily a **product advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Paradise Spring Water from Brunswick, Maine. The illustration depicts **Ponce de León**, the Spanish explorer, searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth. The ad's conceit is humorous: while Ponce de León fruitlessly explored Florida seeking rejuvenation, Paradise Spring Water—available in Maine—allegedly offers the same benefits through mineral content and purity. The ad claims the water aids digestion, kidney function, and arterial health, promising to "keep you fit at fifty"—a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Fountain of Youth mythology. This represents typical early 20th-century patent medicine marketing: making exaggerated health claims through historical reference and pseudoscientific language about mineral water's curative properties.