Historic Northampton


Virtual Exhibits

"Every mother knows that."

This is an example of Pro-Brush's attempt at convincing a parent of the importance of children's tooth care. The body of text in this ad reads: "Today thoughtful mothers understand the value of the child's first teeth and the necessity of keeping them clean. The child always likes to do and have what Mama does and has. Every mother knows that." This ad accomplishes two things. First, it appeals to motherhood and passes judgment on mothers who are not "thoughtful." The statement may be read "If you understand the value of the child's first teeth and the necessity for keeping them clean, then you are a thoughtful mother." This is supplemented by the public knowledge appeal of the statement "every mother knows that" which, through a subtle rhetorical strategy, was designed to elicit an emotional response from the women who read the ad. It was becoming increasingly popular for advertisements to focus on emotion in their targeting of women, especially in the 1920's. We see more of this in the next ad.