I found an example of Dr. Miles Joke Book in a junk store here in Maryland for two dollars and picked it up. I can't find too much info about these advertising give-aways but given the hair and clothing styles I guess it was originally published in the early to mid-1930s. I found a cover picture of a revised "new" joke book that is from 1936 so I would gather that my copy may be volume one of a series. This copy sports a store stamp from the Park Pharmacy in Fredonia New York. I can not find any evidence the store still exists but the physical address seems to still be there and hasn't been absorbed or changed during new construction. There is also a Park Pharmacy not too far away in Salamanca, NY.
The added bonus of this product awareness pamphlet is that the cover art contains an infinity scene, a gimmick that was used for effect on many comic book covers of the 1940's and 1950's and is an aspect of comics worthy of note by collectors and pricing guides. The pamphlet has several pages of all-ages jokes that were old and tired when this was originally printed but it is the advertisements and testimonials for Dr. Miles' Nervine tonic, tablets and other medicinal products that make this more than worth the two bucks I spent.
Tags: Vintage Ad Dr. Miles Joke Book Nervine
Ah the good old days when there wasn't any stupid federal regulations over what kind of snake oil you could peddle to the public. My own grandmother's philosophy was salt or whiskey could cure just about anything.
ReplyDeleteEverything except for high blood pressure and alcoholism.
ReplyDeleteThat's true,but they didn't worry about that sort of thing yet.
ReplyDeleteTrue, this is the era of radium suppositories.
ReplyDelete