Oct 22, 2009 As regular readers may recall, one of my hobbies is collecting old copies of the Illustrated London News, partly for the news and partly for the adverts.
A delivery of more newspapers arrived, and these two adverts practically leapt off the pages.
Homocea – a treatment that treats both Hemorrhoids AND head colds.
Now, I am no expert on the topic of hemorrhoids (he says very quickly), but I am sure that something treating one end of the body isn’t going to be particularly suited to treating the other end.
That said, food goes in at the top, and leaves at the bottom – but I don’t think we’ll linger on that thought for too long!
However, haemorrhoid cream is actually quite good as an emergency treatment for bags under the eyes (so I am informed).
The other advert made me smile as it shows a different way of thinking, which today would be fervently frowned upon.
Can you imagine a product on the shelves of your local supermarket being branded as “Nubian Blacking”?
Not quite sure why ¡Ojo! is at the top, although Wikipedia suggests it could be an oasis in a desert.
Both adverts are from December 1895 – click on each for larger versions.
1 Comment 
illustrated london news
The ‘Ojo!’ is definitely odd. In Spanish, we use it to draw the reader’s/listener’s attention to something which needs to be highlighted. Something like a mix of Oi!+Warning!
As to why did they use it, maybe they thought it sounded exotic enough? 
Good job on the findings Ian, I love them Thanks!
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