The picture in the centre has been shared all over the internet countless times with the suggestion that it is an 1939 ad for amphetamine.
It isn’t.
It is a photoshop creation, a fake advert that seems to have been made by a user called NeoplasmSix who uploaded it to the b3ta forum as part of an “image challenge” back in 2011.
The instructions were;
“This week’s challenge is to design old-time adverts from the days before we knew better – cigarettes that keep you healthy, soap that makes housewives love their husbands more and super-fast cookers using the wonders of radium. Challenge suggested by Mystery_Bob.”
There are 9 pages full of faked old looking adverts but this one somehow started to live it’s own life.
The image is actually an altered version of an 1939 ad for Bile beans, a laxative and tonic of questionable repute.
Here is the original advert;
Drugs we today consider highly dangerous and addictive were a lot easier to get a hold of back then and even prescribed or sold over the counter and of course we love seeing this pictures and sharing them online as it will surely get people talking.
Finding genuine ads for these products has become difficult as the internet is being flooded with faked ones.
A few genuine ones;
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Disclaimer;
Picture(s) found online, used for (re-)educational purposes only.
I do not own the copyrights to these images, I only share them here for educational purposes to try and make sure the real story behind it becomes known and people will stop spreading false information.
If the copyright owner objects to the sharing here, kindly contact me and I shall alter the article.
If you’re interested in using any of the images here get in touch with the copyright owners mentioned in the article.
Feel free to contact me with questions.
Fake History Hunter 