Don't get Stout

Here it is, a rubber garment to prevent you from getting stout. are you getting too fleshy ? Wear this outfit it will prevent the accumulation of fleshy tissue and superfluous fat. Where was this garnent when I started to add fleshy tissue ?

Women bought for men way back when

Somewhere I read that women buy a large % of men's underwear and other clothes. This must have been true back in the 1900's. These ads are from literary magazine, filled with short stories. I would guess it had a mixed audience, but I bet it had more women readers. The ad on the left is for a fountain pen, that took water and made ink. It was called a fountain pencil. You put in a cartridge and added water. Never needs sharpening.
The union suit was made to your measurements and could be made for men and women. I am sure the weights he is holding were extra.
The suspenders were made by the Common Sense Suspender Company. What an original name.
Try that name today. Common Sense Discount Store. Common Sense Hamburger Joint. Common Sense Breweries.

Education mail order style

Learn to mount birds at home was a legitimate mail order program. My wife's father, Al Beale, took a similar course and received his taxidermist certificate. Somewhere we have a photo of a deer head he completed.
He never made a fortune, nor did he become a profession taxidermist. Most of the folks in Upper Michigan during the depression ate what they killed and did not want the head looking down on them as they had the rest for dinner. Who had money for such foolishness.
Now the other course looks like you need to go to Effingham, IL to take the course. Effingham use it in a sentence. That effinham was so salty.........

Magic Tricks and typewriters

A friend of mine's father was in the mail order magic business in the 50's and 60's. Not sure if they are still in business. These guys will sell you 150 tricks, their trick was to get your name and a catalog into your hands.

This typewriter must have been a good deal in this time period but in the ad it says all machines rebuilt as new. How much did a new one cost ? Those machines today would cost more than $25 to mail. They were heavy suckers. I am betting it's hard to find any kind of typewriter in use today. Yea I know there are a few holdouts that do not own a computer.
Of course this machine is usable when the power goes out.