Bile Beans, part 2

Bile Beans

Just a quick post today while I languish on my sickbed without any useful remedies to console me.

Following on from a previous post about the Bile Beans for Biliousness, Jane Ellen, Senior Archivist at the University of Melbourne Archives kindly sent me this image, probably from the 1930s. It looks as though it was in-store advertising and, like other adverts for this product, shows an amusing juxtaposition of radiant beauty and, well… the name Bile Beans. The way the Beans acted to produce such a lovely figure is as unappealing as their title – they ‘ensure[d] that regular elimination so essential to your wellbeing.’

I’ve dug out the text of another advert for Bile Beans – this one (below) is from The Argus, Melbourne, 16 April 1945. (N.B. The original doesn’t have a question mark for the first sentence either.) Aimed squarely at women and pitched more as a food supplement than a medicine, this is a contrast to the product’s early advertising, which targeted both sexes and claimed that the Beans were effective against some quite serious diseases.

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Why shouldn’t you be Radiant & Attractive

THAT inner well-being, the bright eyes, clear complexion and the sparkle that go with it are just a matter of nightly routine – the results which Bile Beans surely bring.
Purely vegetable, Bile Beans–just one or two taken regularly at bedtime, build up good health and good digestion while you sleep. They tone you up, cleanse and regulate the system. They improve your appearance and your outlook on life.
Bright eyes, cheeriness, personal fitness are grand assets these days. They can be yours all through the year if you

Start To-night with Bile Beans

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8 thoughts on “Bile Beans, part 2

  1. That is a fantastic 1st ‘f’ in the word ‘for’ in that poster, lovely.

    I’m pretty sure I’ve had a Marks and Spencer 3 bean salad that had Bile Beans in.

  2. I wonder what names they discarded as being unappealing, in favor of Bile Beans?

    And I hope that you are feeling better very soon!

Comments are closed.

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