‘Advertising for Health’ at The Wolfsonian–FIU explores nearly a century of medical advertising


Sign, Cafiaspirina, c. 1930. Published by Bayer, Brazil. Commercial lithograph, metal. The Wolfsonian-FIU. Gift of William H. Helfand, XC2009.07.12.9.

The Wolfsonian-FIU’s latest installation, Advertising for Health, explores nearly a century of advertising for medicine, pharmacy and public health. The installation features rare advertisements, printed ephemera and posters from a recent gift by William H. Helfand, a recognized author and print collector. Together with a selection of printed materials and objects from a rarely exhibited segment of The Wolfsonian’s collection, these works reflect changing ideas about health in the Americas and Europe between the late nineteenth century and World War II. The objects on view also encourage reflection about the “pursuit of health” in the present by conveying the lively history underlying issues that remain current today.

The Wolfsonian has a particularly rich collection of books, periodicals and ephemera about physical culture in the United States. Publications regarding housing reform and urban planning related to health and hygiene; public health campaign materials; and personal care and hygiene objects such as razors, massagers and sunlamps.

“Mr. Helfand’s gift significantly deepens our collection in the area of medical and pharmaceuticals advertising,” says Marianne Lamonaca, curator of the exhibition and The Wolfsonian’s associate director for curatorial affairs and education.

The installation Advertising for Health celebrates two milestones at FIU: the inaugural year of the university’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and The Wolfsonian’s fifteenth anniversary.

“On the occasion of the museum’s fifteenth anniversary,” notes Wolfsonian Director Cathy Leff, “we are recognizing the important contributions of donors to our collection. We are also showing a complementary exhibition, Bernarr Macfadden and the American Physical Culture Movement: Selections from the Gift of Robert J. Young in The Wolfsonian’s Rare Book and Special Collections Library.”

The library display, curated by Francis X. Luca, Wolfsonian chief librarian and FIU adjunct professor of history, focuses on Bernarr Macfadden, a pioneer of the American physical culture movement, a body-builder and a self-made millionaire. Macfadden used his publishing empire to distribute popular magazines and books that championed his crusade against Victorian prudery, exposed early twentieth-century medical establishment quackery and advocated better living through a healthy diet and physical fitness.

Advertising for Health and related public programs are sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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