Our sadistic little story today begins as a dramatic DeWitt's "magic pill" digestant advertising product booklet. I found it recently in a variety grab bag of Victorian scraps and other enjoyable ephemera, and aside from the fascinating, and rather valuable information of that which will surely cure one of most food related ailments, this booklet also doubles as a treacherously tragic, three-way love affair poem. Who will win the hand of the gorgeous girl? And who will drop dead from over-eating her deliciously moist treats?! DeWitt's Little Early Risers-- yes, even though it sounds like something for erectile disfunction, it is in fact actually for everything else that ails yee-- from dizziness, to biliouness, distress, and sour stomach / constipation! Unfortunately, for our foolish loser, DeWitt's has no cure for maniacal maidens possessing a fatally fiendish, foodie fetish!
4 comments:
OK that's not the way I'd sell an indigestion pill!
One fun thing about this little strip is how the groom is still fat at the end from all the pies! Good continuity!
A baked good that will cause digestive distress, a Three Stooges skit used in at least two shorts.
We can laugh at the idea of death by devouring too much, but the Swedish King Adolf Frederick died by dinner back in 1771. I think it was the sweet rolls he ate, all 14 of them, that sealed his fate.
The artwork is period of the work seen in the 1890's-1900's, it has a fair amount of detail for a throwaway item.
A glimpse into the advertising, clothing style, and humor of over a century ago, a nice find.
I don't know. They both ate the same amount of pound cake. As far as I understand the rules she set out, she should get to marry the corpse, too.
Great comments as always, and I'm hoping to find poetry booklets for the other DeWitt's products listed too, --though not sure I want to see what cruel contest is required for the remedy of PILES! Eeek!
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