Life, 1925-12-17 · page 4 of 40
Life — December 17, 1925 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **Listerine advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The advertisement uses a health scare narrative to sell the antiseptic mouthwash. The image shows a woman with a sore throat during winter sports season. The accompanying text presents a cautionary scenario: she contracted a sore throat (temperature 102°F) while enjoying winter activities, implying she could have prevented this by gargling with Listerine. The small ski-themed cartoon on the left is merely decorative, illustrating "winter pleasures." The ad's message is straightforward: use Listerine preventatively at the first sign of throat trouble to avoid serious infection and maintain your winter activities. This represents early 20th-century marketing that equated a commercial product with medical prevention—a common advertising tactic before modern FDA regulations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A CHALLENGE We'll make a_ little wager with you that if you will try one tube of Listerine Tooth Paste, you'll come back for more. Large Tube—25 cents Here was this girl—laid up with sore throat—temperature 102—right at the time when winter sports were at their best. And she an ardent lover of this kind of outdoor fun. Yet she might have avoided this trouble. Sore throat so often can be avoided by taking the proper precaution at the right time. There is one simple, safe and pleasant way to do this—by gargling systematically with Listerine, the safe antiseptic. Don’t let sore throat interfere with your winter pleasures Use Listerine the moment you feel that first dry hitch on swallowing. It will usu- ally help you dodge sore throat—also those more serious troubles that start with throat infection, Make Listerine a daily habit during sore throat days. Listerine, of course, has many other uses, too, that are described in the blue circular wrapped around each bottle. Take a mo- ment to read it—Lambert Pharmacal Com- pany, Saint Louis, U. S. A. LISTERINE—xever on speaking terms with sore throat comicbooks.com