Life, 1928-09-06 · page 31 of 44
Life — September 6, 1928 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **commercial advertisement**, not political satire. It promotes Listerine mouthwash by addressing the social embarrassment of halitosis (bad breath). The central narrative depicts a woman returning an engagement ring accompanied by a bottle of Listerine—a dramatic, humorous scenario illustrating that poor oral hygiene is socially unacceptable and grounds for rejecting a romantic partner. The headline "The ring came back—with a bottle!" frames this as a cautionary tale. The ad employs shame and social pressure as marketing tactics, claiming that "nice people" use Listerine daily and that those with halitosis "deserve no sympathy." It includes testimonials from hairdressers (presumably authority figures on personal hygiene) stating one in three wealthy women suffer from halitosis. A secondary advertisement for Listerine Shaving Cream appears below. The satire, if any exists, targets the absurdity of using a mouthwash bottle as a relationship rejection message—but the ad presents this seriously as acceptable behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Since halitosis never announces it- self to the victim, you simply cannot know when you have it. ‘The ring came back -with a bottle / Today, halitosis is inexcusable People who offend deserve no sympathy WOMAN we know took a direct means to settle a matter which she couldn't bring her- self to talk about. She returned the engagement ring—with a bot- tle. A bottle of Listerine. It carried its own implication. Brutal? Perhaps. But those who today offend by halitosis (unpleasant breath) deserve not too much consideration. They ignore the facts about it (see below). They refuse to suspect themselves. They fool themselves. Nice people, fastidious people, people who consider others, tecognize the constant risk of offending this way, and keep themselves on the polite and popular side by using Listerine. Every morning. Every night. And between times when necessary—especially before meeting others. Keep a bottle handy in home and office for this purpose. Listerine ends halitosis instantly. Being antiseptic, it strikes at its commonest cause—fermentation in the oral cavity. Then, being a powerful deodorant, it destroys the odors themselves. If you have any doubt of Listerine’s deodorant properties, aa make this test: Rub a slice of onion on your hand. Then Have you tried x apply Listerine clear. Immediately, every trace of onion odor * i . Eve fish on th af the new Listerine is gone. bys deo “a ¢ hands yields to it. Lambert Shaving Cream? Cools your skin while you READ THE FACTS shave and keeps it cool I oe afterward. An outstand- 4 had halitosis ing shaving cream in every 68 hairdressers state that about every third respect. woman, many of them from the wealthy classes, is halitoxic. Who should know bet ter than they? S T E R IN E —the safe antiseptic comicbooks.com