ABSTRACT
In 1914, the home economist Christine Frederick noted the growing influence of health-related product advertising on the American home. ‘Health boards may think they are responsible for the aseptic attitude of the modern housekeeper,’ she wrote in the trade journal Advertising and Selling, ‘but Platt’s Chlorides, vacuum cleaners, and dustless dusters did it,’ referring to three heavily advertised products whose promotional campaigns stressed the necessity for a sanitary home. Likewise, she continued: ‘Pure food champions and pure food laws have told us what to avoid to keep out of an early grave, but Heinz, Beechnut, National Biscuit, and other honest manufacturers, through advertising, have told us what is pure food and how and where we can get it.’ 1
