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9:04am

Thu May 12, 2011
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The Picture Show

"Take Two Bile Beans And Call Me In The Morning" (And Other Vintage Ads)

By Adam Cole
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Credit G. Berni / Philadelphia Museum of Art
Sparklet Nasal "completely cures head colds" and is "invaluable for all ailments of the respiratory passages." All you have to do is stick something in your nose. (French, c. 1900-1905)
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Credit Philadelphia Museum of Art
This medicine from turn-of-the-century America claimed to cure "Coughs, Colds, Influenza, Hoarsenenss, Croup, Bronchitis, [and] Incipient Consumption." It contained heroin.
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Credit Philadelphia Museum of Art
Nothing says glamor like this 40s era ad for Bile Beans, a laxative remedy for all kinds of complaints. It contained aloin, an aloe extract no longer considered safe, as well as peppermint oil, cardamom and wheat flour.
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Credit Leonetto Cappiello / Philadelphia Museum of Art
Published around 1910, this Spanish print advertised a medicine used to reduce the intense pain of gout.
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Credit Franz von Stuck / Philadelphia Museum of Art
The first International Hygiene Exhibition was held at the Hygiene Museum in Dresden. One of the principal sponsors of the event had a strange dream about a giant eye, and the poster was based on this image.
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Credit Fritz Kahn / Philadelphia Museum of Art
"Man as Industrial Palace" was printed in 1926, when Germany's chemical industry was the most advanced in the world.

For decades, peddlers of medicine have used bright colors and flashy slogans to advertise their wares. These posters — from a collection of over 50 on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through July 31-- may not be particularly accurate, but they are beautifully designed.

Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.