Life, 1929-08-09 · page 31 of 44
Life — August 9, 1929 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Listerine mouthwash advertisement**, not political satire. It uses social anxiety as its selling point. The ad presents a narrative about a Philadelphia woman popular outdoors but socially isolated indoors. The implied problem: **bad breath** (halitosis). The advertisement exploits early 20th-century social shame by claiming that one in three people suffer from this condition due to mouth germs. The copy emphasizes that using Listerine mouthwash twice daily—before social meetings—will eliminate odor-causing bacteria and prevent social embarrassment. It positions the product as a "safe antiseptic" capable of killing germs in 15 seconds. This reflects period advertising strategy: create anxiety about invisible social defects, then offer a commercial solution. The photograph shows the woman holding what appears to be a ukulele, reinforcing her social desirability once the "problem" is solved.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
2 Rae NE RISE eo 6 Outdoors ado TTDOORS they adored this gay Philadelphia girl. She was continually surrounded with admirers. But indoors it was an- other story. She was hopelessly out of things. The truth is that her trouble which went unnoticed in the open, became instantly apparent in the drawing room. No intelligent person dares to assume complete freedom from halitosis (unpleasant breath). how one person out of three is an occasional or habitual offender. This is due to the fact that odor-producing conditions (often caused by germs) arise con stantly in even normal mouths. The one way of keeping your breath always beyond suspicion is torinse the mouth with full strength Listerine every morning and night and before meeting others. Surv red... indoors igno d Being a germicide capable of kill- ing even the Staphylococcus Aureus (pus) germ in 15 seconds, full strength Listerine first strikes at the cause of odors, and then, being a powerful deodorant, destroys the odors themselves. Yet it is entirely safe to use. Lambert Pharmacal Company, St. Louis, Mo., U. S. A. THE SAFE ANTISEPTIC LISTERINE comicbooks.com