Description

July and August of 1917 must have
been the summer of our discontent.
The world was at war. All Canadians
were mourning the losses at Vimy
Ridge, while riots over conscription
flared at home. The price of a good suit
had soared to $14.95, and income tax
was introduced for the first time, as a
temporary war measure (one rate for
all, 4%). Relief could be found in the
front pages of the newspapers — but in
the advertisements, not in the news:
Fruit-a-tives, for those run down and
tired; Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, for those
ailments from which women alone
suffer; or Beecham's Pills, to keep the
organs in harmony.