Life, 1928-09-06 · page 3 of 44
Life — September 6, 1928 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily **advertising disguised as satire**—a public health message from Washburn Crosby Company (Gold Medal Flour). The cartoon mocks "food faddists" and diet book authors as charlatans. The well-dressed man on the right, holding "Trick Diets by a Food Faker," dismisses traditional wisdom (represented by the pastoral couple and Omar Khayyam's poetic line about bread). His exaggerated expression and formal attire mark him as a fraudulent expert. The accompanying text explicitly warns readers against believing diet literature or unqualified advisors, directing them instead to licensed doctors and dietitians. The irony is that Crosby Company is using this anti-fad message to promote bread consumption—positioning their product as legitimate nutrition, not a "fad." This reflects early 20th-century anxieties about pseudoscientific diet trends.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THAT'S OLD STUFF, FIND THE MODERN ROAD TO HAPPINESS THROUGH MY BOOK OF FOOD FOOLOSOPHY. DON'T EAT BREAD - ANYTHING YOU LIKE TO EAT IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH, ETC! a book of verse and thou.— OMAR KHAYYAM, This cartoon is published in an effort to awaken the public to the danger of following the literature and advice of food faddists or fakers when they should depend on a licensed doctor or dietitian for correct diet information. @ To anyone interested, we shall be glad to mail, without charge, a copy of “Facts About Bread and its Rightful Place in the Diet”—a booklet containing statements by the courtry’s most eminent nutritional authorities. © Address Dept. 322, Washburn Crosby Company, millers of Gold Medal Flour, Minneapolis, Minnesota Corra.. 1480, wanmevan cRoney Courant comicbooks.com