Life, 1929-05-31 · page 4 of 36
Life — May 31, 1929 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **public health advertisement** by Metropolitan Life Insurance, not satire. The "Ready for a Drink?" headline uses social concern as a hook to promote typhoid vaccination. The illustration depicts men at a well, referencing the common source of typhoid transmission through contaminated water—a genuine public health crisis of the early 20th century. The accompanying text educates readers that typhoid fever kills approximately 1 in 10 victims and that inoculation provides safe protection. The ad cites concrete statistics (281,000 soldiers in Spanish-American War, only 1 in 3,700 inoculated soldiers contracted typhoid) to encourage preventive medicine. Rather than satirical, this represents **earnest health advocacy** disguised within advertising, using insurance company credibility to promote medical best practices during an era of widespread waterborne disease.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ready for “You're welcome. And it's the mest water in the world. I've drinking it for 50 years.” LEAR, cold water from an old-fashioned well looks mighty tempting on a hot day. One might naturally think that if the owner of the well drinks the water it must be pure. But the fact that he has drunk the water without ap- parent harm does not prove that the water is pure. Science has dmiered: that a few individuals have been able to drink water more or less polluted with typhoid germs without contracting typhoid fever. But it is never safe for anyone to take immunity for granted. Typhoid fever is a filth disease. It usually kills one out of every ten persons who have it. Until authorities responsible for the purity of drink- ing water, milk and other foods in cities and towns learned how to guard against typhoid, outbreaks of this disease scourged the country year after year. There were no great typhoid scourges last year in the United States, yet approximatel 65,000 pe were stricken needlessly wit typhoid fever and 6,500 died. Those who recover from typhoid fever are left in such physical condition that for about three years afterward the deathrate of such persons is twice the normal rate for the same ages. Wherever cities protect their supply of drinking “38 water from sewage or purify their waterbychlorina- 3/8 tion the deathrate from typhoid drops. A marked 7.49 reduction also takes place in communities where ¢: milk and food supplies are carefully rotected and 5 food handlers thoroughly inspect: utuntilthis - protection is general ia cities, towns and villages ~4 and in country districts as well, typhoid inocula- tion is vitally necessary. f wey wan Company, New York. Drink? Why risk typhoid fever when it can be prevented? The story of inoculation which frevents typhoid fever is a brilliant page in the history of the many triumphs of science over disease. During the Spanish-American War 281,000 0f our men went intoservice. Oneout of everytwelvecontractedty- phoid. In the World War there were 4,000,000 Amer- ican soldiers, nearly all inoculated against typhoid. Although many of them were sent to ty, oid in. fected areas, only one out of every 3,700 met? typhoid, While typhoid fever frequently comes from drink- ing polluted water, it also comes from infected milk and various other contaminated foods, and from unsuspected “typhoid-carriers"—a few individuals who have recovered from the dis- ease but who continue to carry the germs. When typhoid-carriers are employed as helpers in households, hotels or restaurants there is great danger that thcy will cause infection among those they serve. Inoculations against typhoid fever are simple and leave no scar. They frotect from two to five years. Why take chances? Be prepared for your motor, camping and hiking trips this year. Goto your doctor for the protection hecan give. Inoculation against typhold is not the same as inoculation which prevents diphtheria or vaccina- sai tlonagainstsmallpox. Allthreeare necessary health y protections at home and especially when traveling. . The Metropolitan will be glad to mail, without ‘cost, its booklet, “Thi to anyone who requ: partment, 69-F, Metropolitan Life Insurance METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY~NEW YORK Biggest in the World, More Assets, More Policyholders, More Insurance in force, More new Insurance each year comicbooks.com