Be Strong That You May Not Suffer
Title: “Be Strong That You May Not Suffer” (2008)
Dimensions: 36″x36″
Media: Acrylic on Canvas
Inspired by the various bottled ‘cures’ so rampant in the 19th century, this painting features on of the most popular ‘remedies’–Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters. Not surprisingly, Hostetter’s often used proverbs as a way to market the product. An advertisement in Farber’s Cabinet (1867) reads: “A Card to Sensible People…Rational reader, if the aspect of the weather was uncertain, you would not be foolish enough to venture out without an overcoat or an umbrella.–Have the forecast ,then, to protect yourself at this dangerous season with something more important than either of these articles. Strengthen your stomach and nervous system, regulate your liver and your bowels, tone all your organs, and cheer your animal spirits with that agreeable cordial, tonic and alterative, HOSTETTER’S STOMACH BITTERS. So shall you surely escape the diseases which fasten upon the feeble and the debilitated. “Suffer and be strong.” says the proverb; but “Be strong that you may not suffer” is the wisest maxim….”
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