Tonics promised to “build you up” to fight the flu, 1919

Tonics promised to "Build up your strength" to combat flu epidemic.

This advertisements states that “Pepsinol makes the weak strong, invigorates and refreshes the nerves and purifies the blood.” Invigorate, refresh, purify are common words used by quacks – all are meaningless in scientific medicine. But fear causes people turn to quack cures available from local drug stores or through mail order.
From The Bourbon News, Paris, Kentucky, November 21, 1919

One thought on “Tonics promised to “build you up” to fight the flu, 1919

  1. I think this is really neat because it demonstrates that the flu frightened people throughout the 20th century, just like now in 2018.

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