Life, 1921-11-03 · page 27 of 34
Life — November 3, 1921 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a genuine advertisement for Paradise Water, a spring water product from Brunswick, Maine. The page represents early 20th-century "patent medicine" marketing practices that would later be regulated by the FDA. The ad uses pseudoscientific health claims common to the era: it promises that drinking their water will remove "mineral deposits and poisonous wastes" from organs, prevent premature aging, and extend lifespan. It appeals to consumer anxiety about health and mortality with the attention-grabbing headline "Will You Be Alive 5 Years from Today?" The language—"naturally and effectively," references to physicians' endorsements, and claims about purifying blood and keeping arteries young—typifies unsubstantiated wellness marketing of this period. The offer of a free booklet and availability through drugstores and grocers suggests mainstream distribution. To modern readers, this represents how casually extraordinary medical claims could be advertised before regulatory standards existed, revealing both public health vulnerabilities and the prevalence of dubious "cure-all" products in early American consumer culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Will You Be Alive 5 Years from Today? Barring accidents you can if you have the will to try. Your condition of health is mainly in your own hands. So-called ‘‘old age’’ is not a matter of years. You can be old and worn out at 45 and dead at 50. ‘“‘Old age’’ and disease are due to a premature decay which usually starts with the heart, the arteries or the kidneys. Physicians know that the surest way to keep the heart, ar- teries, kidneys and cellular tissues healthy is to remove the mineral deposits and poisonous wastes which the body ac- cumulates. A simple, pleasant means has been discovered for doing this—vzaturally and effectively. It is the constant and plentiful drinking of PARADISE WATER, from Paradise Spring in Maine. PARADISE WATER is so beneficial because its remark- able purity and solvency give it the power to dilute, dissolve and elim- inate the mineral and poisonous wastes of the body. Its continued use results in a regular, frequent and natural washing out of the organs; just as Nature would do if every organ functioned normally. Ask your physician what the cop- ious drinking of a really pure water can do for you. Paradise Water purifies the blood, helps to keep the arteries young, and promotesa buoyant, up-build- ing effect upon the general health. If you are ailing, you need Par- adise to help you get well. If you are healthy now, drink Paradise to preserve that health, and increase your years of usefulness and well- being. Give this delicious, spark- ling health-water a trial. FREE: 24-page health booklet, “The Story of Paradise Spring,” and names of dealers in your city. Leading druggists serve Paradise, and your grocer will deliver a case to your door. Quarts, pints, half- pints. Natural or Carbonated, both delightful in taste,.and_per- fect table waters, in addition to their health-giving qualities. PARADISE ‘SPRING COMPANY, BRUNSWICK, MAINE comicbooks.com