Life — December 13, 1929 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Rip Van Winkles" - Diabetes Awareness This is primarily an **advertisement** for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's diabetes information booklet, disguised as editorial content. The page references Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle"—a man who slept for 20 years and awoke unchanged. The metaphor compares diabetics who ignore their condition to Rip Van Winkle: they dangerously delay treatment, pretending the disease doesn't exist. The text warns that **insulin had recently become available** (context suggests early 1920s), offering new hope. However, many diabetics remain unaware they have the disease or neglect insulin treatment, effectively committing "suicide" through non-compliance. The illustration depicts an aged, weathered figure—representing the passage of time and deterioration caused by untreated diabetes. This was public health messaging: highlighting insulin's life-saving potential while shaming patient negligence and ignorance about the disease.