Nerves That Stay Up Watching Thrillers

This fabulous 1930s ad is from the lovely Amy of I Love Retro Things (which is such a great blog, you absolutely must go visit!) – who was kind enough to send me several wonderful pages of ads, which I will be posting over the summer. Thank you so much, Amy!

So to start us off on Monday morning, here is a dramatic portrayal of what happens to you when you don’t feed your nerves. You know you haven’t been thinking about that! I know it hadn’t occurred to me before I saw this, anyway. They didn’t actually tell me they were hungry! I don’t talk to them, you know – they just sort of pop up, or in, once in awhile, for a quick visit…I guess I should offer them a sandwich, next time they start nagging me about loud thunderstorms and late-night phone calls.

Because, for heaven’s sake, they need a little snack or two, at the very least. And when they are hungry, they will rebel – like our cats. When our cats are annoyed that they only got kibbles and not some delicious ham and bacon, they run all over the house at 3am like maniacs.

Same deal with your nerves. “Restless sleep, groundless fears are a sign that your daily dietary is not providing sufficient nerve-restoring nourishment.” Yes, not only will your nerves be running around keeping you awake – but they invited some friends to the party, the Groundless Fears. Hey, come on in – she didn’t bolt the door, you know!

And what fun those Groundless Fears are. They think someone else is there at the door. Which you probably didn’t bolt – did you! Oh, yes, we established that….What was THAT? (It was probably the cats, but who can say for sure?).  Who told your Dreadful Nerves that it was OK to throw a party? They’re downstairs right now, trying to juggle the good china.

But all will be well with you (and with the poor woman in the ad) if you just chug down a mug of Ovaltine. The secret is that there are lots of eggs in it, because we all know that “no tonic food beverage could be complete without eggs.” Mind you, this must make the chickens nervous at night, and then what do they do – but perhaps this line of thought is due to the fact that I did not drink my Ovaltine last night.

I am also wondering (because this ad really does resemble a film poster) - what if the woman is NOT imagining things? What if her husband is turning the gaslight up and down, making the floor creak - trying to drive her crazy so he can get his mitts on her fortune (à la the movie Gaslight). And what if he sees this ad – and gives her some special Ovaltine…