Comic and Patent Medicine Ads and a City Banter Column
A jumble of early 20th century ads tout Cascarets a ten cent bowel cleanser and warn against constipation. The Washington Star excerpt includes Mayor Baker of Cleveland defending a political movement and a Seabright old maid joke involving a college boy and a dawn departure from a dance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington Star
Baker
Cleveland
Beabright Old Maid
Seabright Old Maid
Minnie
Kidney relief claim from Dodd's Kidney Pills advert
Oakley Kentucky resident James McDaniel describes long lasting kidney and bladder symptoms including backache burning, sleeplessness, and swelling. After overwork and physician visits, he credits Dodd's Kidney Pills with permanent improvement and urges readers to buy the 50 cent boxes from Dodd's Medicine Co Buffalo New York.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
James McDaniel
Oakley, Ky
J. McDaniel
Dodd
Dodd's Medicine Co
Buffalo
N. Y
Adr
All There Was for Him in December Bread Tale
A shoemaker's apprentice visits his master's home in December to help with work and overhears the wife baking a Christmas spice loaf. The apprentice compliments the bread, and the wife retorts with a sharp, humorous reply about his prospects.
Danderine Hair Cleanse Promises Quick Beauty Boost
A vintage ad touts Danderine promising light, wavy hair that looks soft and youthful. It claims to cleanse dust and oil, remove dandruff, and invigorate the scalp, stopping itching and hair loss while offering instant beauty.
Five Room bungalow for small family by William A. Radford
A detailed blueprint article by William A. Radford promotes a five room bungalow with basement for small families. It emphasizes neat appearance, practical comfort, and economy, with design features like a solid basement wall, heated by wartmall furnaces, and a front rustic aesthetic enhanced by shingle siding and landscaping considerations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wartmall
Glimpse of Life in Utopia Laundry Wagon Dialogue
A laundry wagon driver politely offers a wash, declaring the picked items include a handkerchief. The fragment hints at everyday urban life and social interaction in a utopian setting.
Furnaces and house design details from early plans
The text describes a compact bungalow layout with a single small furnace, central placement under the house, short heat pipes to rooms, a front veranda under a straight roof, a dormer for light, and flexible living spaces that can combine two front rooms into one. It also includes a humorous aside about laundry errors and a dialogue about a driver's remark on premature collars and a story about a laundryman executed for starching a silk shirt.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Utopia
Sanary
Dob. Jones Slams New York in Humorous Sermon
The St. Louis Globe Democrat reports evangelist Dob. Jones condemns New York calling it hades by comparison noting water surroundings. He mocks office life with bright anecdotes about pink silk hose, low-cut blouses, and a stenographer joking about competition between the office mirror and clock.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dob. Jones
New York
Hades
Bob
St. Lonix Globe Democrat
Whistler Tale and Odd Cafe Exchange
A collage of quirky scenes unfolds with Deater-Has Jones praising a new auto two weeks in. a mug mishap at a busy counter spurs wit about saucers. In London, Whistler meets a titled guest who notes his long name and asks what drew him to a Paris work.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Deater
Jones
Whistler
London
Paris
James McNet
Mr. Whistler
Ticket prices rising amid speculation concerns
An anxious citizen warns tailroads have started raising ticket prices while a patient observer resists anger, arguing riders deserve credit if agencies don’t fix a system that tolerates ticket scalping and speculation.
A Pretty Deception in a Domestic Skit
A humorous exchange shows Crawford revealing old love letters to his wife, while Crabshaw plots to send altered dates to the absent wife. In Domestic Amenities, a husband jokes about breakfast biscuits. The Serious Case features a wife claiming ill health and a husband reacting with exaggerated concern.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Crawford
Crabshaw
Puck
Never out of until tomorrow motto quoted in text
A fragment quotes the motto Never out of until tomorrow what you can do today and a demand Pay me that five dollars then. The dialogue contrasts routine obligation with a defiant rule. No clear event or identifiable persons are named.
Overtaxed Vision War News Headline Laments Reading Strain
An optician quips about demanded aid for fatigued readers. A customer seeks a “minifying glass” to hold the paper away from the eyes and read war headlines without craning the neck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Optician
Awkward Beginning Raises Suspicions In Robbery Scene
A man claiming to be a piano tuner robbed a house, with the interviewee noting the odd crowbar attempt to access the piano. The exchange highlights the suspect’s false pretenses and the tension of the encounter.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Yeu
Why Minstrelsy Is Dying Out
A fragment from a minstrel dialogue features Sambo asking where standing armies sit when tired and Interlocutor replying he cannot say. Sambo suggests the seat of war as the setting to sing a ditty titled Nebber Mind de Cotton Crop, ef de Chicken Crop Am Good.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sambo
County fair pumpkins inspire quirky cradles tale
In a county fair yarn, a pumpkin split in two creates halves used as cradles by twins. A local quip notes town life where several full grown policemen are asleep on a single beat, as Reuben Fox mentions a farmer named Yonder.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cityleigh
Reuben Fox
Accounted For and The Old Way Verse Sketches
A fragment from a column features quick dialogue and quips about sightedness jokes and social chatter. A wife and husband exchange lines about a malfunctioning clock. Witty exchanges appear in a stagey, humorous tone with names like Hewitt Jewett Crawford Crabshaw and Cr Isaac.
Wisdom Teeth and Social Drawbacks in Brief Interactions
A wife jokes about wisdom teeth after a dentist visit, quipping that removing every tooth cannot improve intelligence. A bustling social figure is accused of leaving town after years in society, while remarks touch on effeminacy and the vanity of life choices.
Improvement. What are your constituents going to do about sending you back
A garbled dialogue opens with a statesman asserting constituents favor his return to Congress, claiming they see him willing to work in Washington. The text blends quips about spirits, political openings, and salesman banter, hinting at ambitions and social musings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Congress
Statesman
Washington
Peruna Remedy Ad Keeps Reader Alkits Strong
Mrs Anna Linder of Minnesota writes that after two years of chronic catarrh she followed the paper ad and took Peruna. She says she is well now and a mother of two, praising the tonic as worth more than its cost and indispensable to her health.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William A. Radford
Prairie ‘Avenue
Chicago
Anna Linder
RF. D
Dasete Beaatiar de Minn
Peruna
Also Mentioned on This Page
Coo Vomes
Hewitt
Cruet
Jewett
Kise
Rascal
Gabe
Ries
Centalr Company
Bears
Castoria
Jims
Mar
George
Lacht
Bertin
Coyne Brothers New
Moward E. Burton
Sloan
Alen Dunn
Pine Valley
Miss
Tama
Earl S. Sloan
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!