Back in 1918 when this ad ran the Volstead Act was about to force the American alcohol industry underground. What would follow would be thirteen years of bootleg liquor, ascendant organized crime, fraudulent patent medicine, and hypocrisy. For their part, big booze manufacturers like Anheuser-Busch looked for new ways to make money. Some went into the ice cream business and others started producing faux health foods like malt extract.
Reading the copy, it sounds like the children of 1918 had the exact opposite of the problem modern kids face. Apparently back then it was a real problem for a kid to outgrow his stomach. I'm trying to imagine that diagnosis coming up in a doctor's office. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Thompson, but it looks like little Timmy has outgrown his stomach. All we can do now is pump him full of malt and hope..." And stomach throat? Really? Come on, that doesn't even sound real!
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