Life — October 18, 1929 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Lucky Babies" - Metropolitan Life Insurance Advertisement This is a **public health advertisement**, not satire. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company sponsored this 1910s-era campaign promoting **diphtheria inoculation** for infants. The page presents six photographs of healthy babies to illustrate the concept of "luck"—arguing that babies who survive diphtheria without inoculation are merely fortunate, not protected by medical science. The text cites alarming statistics: over 100,000 uninoculated children contracted diphtheria annually, with roughly 10,000 deaths. The advertisement urges mothers to bring babies to doctors at six months for preventive inoculation, framing medical precaution as responsible parenting rather than optional. The Metropolitan Life company positioned itself as a public health advocate, offering free educational materials to normalize vaccination—a significant moment in early 20th-century American public health messaging.