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Promotional newsletter for the W. I. Hood Company...

Item # 698197
January 01, 1916
THE PEOPLE'S LEDGER NO. 5, Lowell Massachusetts  A newsletter "Devoted to Preparedness for Health & Prevention of Sickness" as noted in the dateline, which--by the way--has no date. But a bit of investigating indicates the date is about January, 1916.  It is produced by the "C. I. Hood Company" which makes a variety of health-related products, most receiving some attention within this issue.
Still attached is a postcard to be mailed in to receive free information.
Four pages, 10 1/2 by 16 3/4 inches, some light dirtiness and water stains, minor margin tears, archival mends at folds inside.

Background: Dating from approximately January 1916, The People’s Ledger No. 5 is a historically significant four-page advertising newsletter produced by the C.I. Hood Company of Lowell, Massachusetts, representing a pristine survivor from the golden age of American patent medicine marketing. Its headline slogan, "Devoted to Preparedness for Health & Prevention of Sickness," holds deep historical resonance by brilliantly co-opting the "Preparedness Movement"—the massive 1915–1916 political push to ready the United States military for entry into World War I—repurposing national wartime anxiety into a commercial mandate for body fortification via proprietary tonics like Hood’s Sarsaparilla and Peptiron Pills. This publication captures a pivotal moment in media history when corporate giants created sophisticated, faux-journalistic ephemera to bypass traditional advertising and build direct consumer trust. The true rarity of this specific artifact lies in its still-attached reply postcard; because these early forms of direct-mail "click-through" tracking were almost universally detached and mailed back a century ago, an intact, four-page specimen serves as an incredibly uncommon, museum-quality window into early 20th-century consumer data collection and public health culture.

Item from last month's catalog - #366 - released for May, 2026