From the archives: An ad from a 1904 edition of The Star touts miracle liver pills

Today’s pharmaceutical ads claim many things, but have you heard of any that will “touch your liver”? That’s exactly what this ad for Carter’s Little Liver Pills promised in The Kansas City Star on Dec. 14, 1904.

About a century ago, people looked to their livers, not their stomachs, when they suffered from indigestion or constipation. What exactly the “torpid liver” or “furred tongue” here refer to isn’t exactly clear today, but it couldn’t have been good.