More Interesting Ads From The 1910 World Almanac



We continue our look at the 1910 World Almanac And Encyclopedia’s advertising.

The New York World newspaper used their annual publication of the Almanac as a way to advertise their own newspaper.

Why should you read The World?

There are seven good reasons according to the ad.

Considering almost every newspaper in the country had a political bias, The World claimed they were independent in politics. Another chief reason to read The World is that they were indefatigable in gathering news. As proof of their superiority, The World boasted they had more than twice the circulation of any other morning newspaper in New York.

A separate ad for Almanac readers to consider subscribing to The New York Sunday World stated that they were simply the best at everything, whether it be news, editorials, writers, humor etc. The annual cost for a subscription was $2.50.

A fire extinguisher was a necessity few could afford in 1910. Offered here straight out of a Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon, comes the “Acme” Fire Extinguisher.

William Charles Keene, president of the Lorrimer Institute asks in his ad, “No More Bald Heads? Baltimore Specialist Says Baldness Is Unnecessary And Proves It.”

Of course it is not true.

Keene, was just another charlatan in a long line of patent medicine fakers peddling his wares to a gullible public through an earnest appeal to try his treatment for free.

The Bennett Portable Typewriter was an affordable choice for those who wanted an inexpensive typewriter. As the ad states, “it does everything the most expensive machines can do for you, as easily, quickly and neatly as you desire.”

The ad is not exaggerating about the portability of the typewriter. The ad describes that it is “so compact that it may be carried about in pocket or suitcase or slipped into desk drawer- yet big enough for every use.”

The Bennett was the smallest keyboard typewriter ever built, at about the size of a small box of chocolates.

Many advertisements appear for coffins and burial apparatus. The Champion Chemical Company displays here “The Baker Burglar-Proof Metallic Grave Vault.”

It offered “positive protection from water, vermin and grave robbers.”

The copy boasts, “These vaults are made from heavy steel plates and malleable iron, securely riveted and caulked, and are just as water-tight as any steam boiler. Ten massive concealed locks make them absolutely Burglar-proof.”

Between the fear of being buried alive and grave robber’s, coffin and vault companies did a thriving business.

Moving on from coffins, we go to Trommer’s Evergreen Brewery at Bushwick and Conway Streets which was located near the The Cemetery of the Evergreens in Brooklyn.

The brewery housed a restaurant cafe and garden.

Trommer’s was acquired by Piel’s in 1951 and Piel’s closed the brewery in 1955.

If you enjoyed beer too much you might end up at Dr. E.L. Styles Sanitarium in New Britain Connecticut, which was among the many places you could go to get weened off of liquor. The other nasty 1910 habits that Dr. Styles scientifically treated were opium, morphine and cocaine.

Dr Styles proclaims “that over 20,000 people have been cured by this treatment over the last seven years.”

The sanitarium appealed to “business men who feel the need of getting straightened out quickly, and with all the comforts of home surroundings.”

Which brings us to our conclusion, some of the products that have survived over the last 100 years.

Still being produced in the 21st century are: Murine Eye Drops, Great Bear Spring Water and Michelin Tires.

The most successful of all the advertisers that appeared in the 1910 World Almanac had one of the simplest ads – The King Of Beers, Anheuser-Busch and Budweiser Beer.