#miles laboratories

Nothing captures the spirit of a 1950s summer quite like third-degree burns and a smile that says, "I can no longer feel my nerve endings." This poor girl has been roasted to the consistency of a glazed ham, sporting tan lines that look like she fell asleep on a hot waffle iron. Yet, despite the text helpfully reminding us that "sunburn is painful," she is applying stinging antiseptic with the cheerful demeanor of someone who has just won a raffle. In 1958, SPF didn't exist; you just applied baby oil, waited until you smelled like bacon, and then doused yourself in Bactine.

If you were a fan of my Flickr feed once upon a time or you were following the previous version of this blog, you were aware that one of the things I collect is almanacs and booklets from Miles Laboratories, makers of Nervine (1889) and Alka-Seltzer (1934), which were a series of advertisements thinly veiled as useful literature. Today in browsing at a college rummage sale I came across one of Dr. Miles’ books, which I thought I had already due to the title but the ads did not seem familiar. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve printed a duplicate effort which is entirely different in either content or advertising.

I wasn’t wrong. Top image is the 1940 edition of a book about the US presidents which I’ve owned for about five years. Bottom image is the thing I picked up today from 1936 with a similar [drop the “Know”] title, but different ads and a different size/shape. I haven’t compared text content yet.