The laxative use dates originally from the late 19th century. People believed that it was important to have a bowel movement every day (the myth of regularity) to maintain health. Stool was toxic and must be removed. When formula-feeding became more common in the 20th century, babies sometimes really did get constipated (which is unusual in breast-fed babies) and so laxative use started early and then continued. By the mid-50s this had fallen out of favor - Dr. Spock didn't recommend it, for one thing.

In addition to using laxatives to maintain the required daily movement, people also used laxatives to treat a variety of vague symptoms. If the laxative didn't work, then they moved on to enemas, and if an at-home enema didn't do the trick and you were wealthy enough, you checked into a special hospital for a series of therapeutic "high colonics". Some practitioners still (again?) are advocating the use of similar "cleansings" to detoxify our bodies. Everything old is new again.

I believe there may have been some vague connection made between constipation and childhood masturbation; after all, for a long period, pretty much all physical and mental 'abnormalities' were considered to have a root in masturbation (cf, Foucault, Abnormal).

Thanks for that info, Jay -- I was wondering about that too while reading the ads.

I'm also intrigued that the spanking is administered with a brush. Yikes!

Gee, I can't think of anything more comfortable when I'm a little backed up than having someone smack my butt. Seems these parents were pretty cruel.

I wonder about the company, and whether it was run by a "spare the rod, spoil the child" type. It is rather unnerving how many kids are getting beat, and with objects (which these days will land you in front of social services or the like in many states, even if it doesn't leave a mark).

Incidentally, my mom (born in 1950) tells stories about when my grandmother would give her and her 4 siblings an ExLax. It was routine.

Interesting how the second image equates "modern" with "safe."

You can find historical cookbooks and housewife manuals in the public domain in sites like gutenberg.org or manybooks.net. To be short, the pillars of Victorian diet were meat and potatoes. Neither of them have that much fiber, so people would be frequently constipated.

For example, this health handbook from 1911 goes with an engine metaphor and says:

"There are many different kinds of Coal foods, such as pork, mutton, beef, bread, corn-cakes, bacon, potatoes, rice, sugar, cheese, butter, and so on. But when you come to look at them more closely, and to take them to pieces, or, as we say, analyze them, you will see that they all fall into three different kinds or classes: (1) Proteins, such as meat, milk, fish, eggs, cheese, etc. (2) Starch-sugars (carbohydrates), found pure as laundry starch and as white sugar; also found, as starch, making up the bulk of wheat and other grains, and of potatoes, rice, peas; also found, as sugar, in honey, beet-roots, sugar cane, and the sap of maple trees. (3) Fats, found in fat meats, butter, oil, nuts, beeswax, etc.

This whole class of Coal foods can be recognized by the fact that usually some one of them will form the staple, or main dish, of almost any regular meal, which is generally a combination of all three classes--a protein in the shape of meat; a starch-sugar in the form of bread, potatoes, or rice; and a fat in the form of butter in northern climates, or of olive oil in the tropics."

I've never had the need to give my child a laxative. I don't think that constipation is an issue with children today, unless perhaps all they are eating is macaroni and cheese with hot dogs.

Those images of children being spanked are disturbing to me, especially when paired with the idea that they're not what's upsetting the "delicate nervous system", but rather the bad-tasting laxative!

Of course, things do need to be taken in their context. Child beating wasn't even considered a problem until the late 50's (just like wife beating wasn't even an issue - it didn't have a name! - until 1970). As they would say today, these ads aren't creating or advocating a reality, merely reflecting it.
I'm actually more intrigued with the constant references to the "delicate nervous system" - what's the deal with that? I would say that TOMMY is getting upset, not his stupid little delicate nervous system, and that's why he won't eat. Doesn't nervous system simply mean "brain" here?

"I’m not a parent, but I don’t hear my friends talking about giving their kids laxatives all the time"

But seriously, why would they? If you've ever administered a laxative to a child, it's not exactly the kind of thing you want to chat about afterwards; especially with someone who isn't in a position to share the experience. Maybe parents today assume (rightly) that the world doesn't need to know about their kids' bowel habits, and doesn't want to know either. So you wouldn't know, one way or the other.

(On the other hand, discussion boards for families of kids with complex medical issues are FULL of constipation talk, sharing solutions, etc.--because that's a more useful place for such discussions. Many diagnoses come with chronic bowel issues, so it's wrong to assume that a kid who uses a laxative has a bad diet or a clueless parent.)

As they would say today, these ads aren’t creating or advocating a reality, merely reflecting it.

It seems to me it's the opposite : yes, they are beating children for misbehavior, but it's portrayed as something the parents don't really want to do, they just can't think of another solution. The message of the ad is basically : thanks to Castoria, you won't have to beat your children anymore !

So it's kind of intermediary : beating is a disciplinary measure, but one of last resort that should be avoided by finding out why the children are misbehaving, and addressing that.

The Nerd : Those images of children being spanked are disturbing to me, especially when paired with the idea that they’re not what’s upsetting the “delicate nervous system”, but rather the bad-tasting laxative!

In the ad with the father it's definitely the spanking that's upsetting the "delicate nervous system".

My girlfriend when she was six years old once ate a whole bowl of satsumas, and became so constipated she had to be taken to hospital.

you guys are idiots

I think there's some truth in the connection between constipation, absorption of toxins from the intestine, and child misbehavior. These ads make a lot of sense to me - but then that's the way I was brought up.

I was born in 1947, and laxatives were in heavy use. We were given them on Saturday so that we would be pure and ready for Jesus. My older sister (who is 10 months older than me) told me that my father would give her an enima.....In a child, the anus is a sexual organ, and sex was evil (especially masturbation), so this torture was designed to suppress and deviate a child's sexual desires, and so make them more godly.

People were more worried about constipation then. I once had a stepmother who was from that era. I was about 10 when she took an abnormal interest in my bowels.Women did discuss their children's bowels and treatments with the neighborhood. I remember once, before ever hearing the word "enema", I was lying in bed early one morning and cringing as my stepmom, chatting at the backyard "gossip fence" related in great detail all the laxatives she'd had to give me and their ineffectiveness . After the coven discussed my imagined plight loudly and longly in the early am 'fence topic' session it was definitively decided that:

1) I was cranky and tired not so much from days of travel, but sudden, serious, and severe constipation.

2) This constipation must me immediately treated lest vile and unpleasant maladies would turn me into a raving lunatic before I was 20
And
3) The only way to treat my emergent, yet delicate condition was for at least two of the - er - mature ladies to work as a team and pump seemingly barrels of hot, soapy water deep into my bowels then force me to retain the burning, stinging liquid until I thought I would explode then finally letting me race to the bathroom for only a few short minutes until the next bag was ready.

I soon found out all about the horrific practice that day and for a few years to come as they became a standard treatment both when I was ill, suspected to be ill, or could become ill, or cranky. A fight with my stepsister could very well end up with me back on the bathroom floor a few times.

I know this is TMI, but after reading some of the posts in this thread I wanted to relate what it was like then to be a kid for some. I'm so glad we all went away from that.

Why don't you just eat prune kolache with a lifestyle diet, Sunshine prune juice, less meat, less bread, less processed and microwave food. Learn to cook and bake. Teach the spoiled brats to cook and yes, I was given Fletcher's Castoria and at least two enimas as a child in the 1960's. At 60, I'm actually healthy and have well-knit picture-perfect bowel movements. In fact, I have to do a courtesy flush and often use a plunger, because I'm 6'2" and my BM's are huge!

Thank you, very good article, thanks to the article heardle I learned a lot of information in the past, thank you very much

Every post is not only informative but also incredibly well-written, demonstrating your planet clicker expertise and passion for the topics you cover.

These ads reflect a bygone era when laxatives were more prominently marketed for children, and their usage was more normalized. The emphasis on laxatives as a solution to behavioral world of goo 2 issues suggests that they were seen as crucial for maintaining both physical and familial harmony.

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Fletcher’s Castoria: the way to digestive and family harmony. Without it, you might end up slapping the kids around (though I have to say, that girl at the top would probably test to the utmost my opposition to violence).