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Listen up: 1911 gum advertisement teaches a kissing lesson

1911 ad gives instructions on how to kiss a girl. (Courtesy imgur)

A chewing gum advertisement from 1911 circulating online still has lessons to teach about romance more than a century later. The main lesson here is that sighing repeatedly is crucial for scoring a smooch.

"Do You Know How to Kiss a Girl?" the postcard advertisement asks readers, "Then Learn!"

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How did they know?

The ad for Listerated Pepsin Gum has been circulating online after a Reddit user shared the image. It's a detailed instruction manual with helpful graphics to show the proper way to kiss a lady.

"Look dreamily into her eyes.

You may hold her right hand in your right hand, if you wish.

It is well to sigh a couple of times about this stage of the game," the postcard says.

More sighing should follow, along with cliched poetic lines about cupid. But there's a catch. You must only, only kiss this woman if she uses antiseptic Listerated Pepsin Gum.

"The only chewing gum that makes it safe to kiss."

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The clever bit of marketing, and others like it, are from the manufacturer Common Sense Gum Co. Its early twentieth century advertisements have been relegated to history, including one oval pin held at the National Museum of American History.

Lovers take heed: when wooing someone, it's always a good idea to "gaze deeply at the love-lights which slumber in her eyes."