Do You Have the “Mental-Motive” Temperament of a High-Powered Attorney?

In today’s professional world, aspiring attorneys face a gauntlet of standardized tests, rigorous law school admissions, and bar examinations. Success in the legal field hinges on LSAT scores, academic performance, and demonstrated analytical abilities. But step back exactly one century to 1924, and the path to legal success looked dramatically different—and decidedly more peculiar.

During the height of the Jazz Age, when America was experiencing unprecedented social transformation following World War I, career counselors and vocational analysts like Jessie Allen Fouler—one of the most prominent figures in the pseudoscientific field of phrenology—believed that your law degree was essentially worthless if you didn’t possess the correct skull shape and facial bone structure.

This fascinating article from the December 1924 issue of Character Reading Magazine represents the thirteenth installment in our series exploring early 20th-century personality assessment, and it offers a remarkable window into how Americans of the Roaring Twenties understood professional aptitude, human potential, and career placement.

The Historical Context: Career Science in 1920s America

The 1920s marked a pivotal era in American employment and vocational guidance. Following the mass mobilization of World War I (1917-1918), the U.S. military had pioneered large-scale psychological testing to assign soldiers to appropriate roles—an innovation that would profoundly influence civilian career counseling in the postwar decade.

Into this environment stepped practitioners of phrenology—a Victorian-era pseudoscience that claimed to determine personality traits, intellectual capabilities, and professional aptitude by examining the contours of the human skull. Though phrenology had been debunked by mainstream science by the early 1900s, it maintained surprising cultural currency throughout the 1920s, particularly in popular magazines, vocational guidance literature, and self-improvement courses.

Character Reading Magazine, published from Chicago, represented the crossroads between emerging psychological science and persistent pseudoscientific traditions. Its readership—middle-class Americans anxious about social mobility during a period of rapid economic and cultural change—eagerly consumed articles promising scientific certainty about career selection and personal development.

The “Lincoln Type”: Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as Legal Archetype

The 1924 article prominently features Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the exemplar of ideal legal temperament. Landis, who had recently become the first Commissioner of Major League Baseball in 1920 (following the Black Sox scandal), embodied what Fowler classified as the “Mental-Osseous” temperament—the same constitutional type she attributed to President Abraham Lincoln.

According to Fowler’s analysis, this temperament combined prominent bone structure with heightened intellectual faculties. “When bones and intellect are both prominent in a man he is strongly drawn to the law,” she wrote, describing individuals with deep-set eyes, pronounced nasal bones, and angular facial features as naturally suited for courtroom work.

This connection to Lincoln was particularly significant in 1924 America. Lincoln remained the gold standard of American legal and political virtue, and linking modern professionals to his supposed physical and temperamental characteristics provided both cultural legitimacy and aspirational appeal. The choice of Landis—a high-profile, controversial figure known for his authoritarian decisions in baseball—as the legal archetype also reveals 1920s preferences for forceful, decisive masculine authority in professional roles.

The Granular Specialization: Matching Skull Bumps to Legal Practice Areas

What makes Fowler’s article particularly remarkable is its breathtaking specificity. Rather than painting all lawyers with a broad brush, she broke the legal profession into distinct specializations, each requiring unique physical and temperamental characteristics:

The Real Estate Lawyer: The “Mental-Motive” Professional

The real estate attorney, according to 1924 analysis, required a “Mental-Motive” temperament—a constitutional type characterized by both intellectual capacity and physical vitality for “active” work. Most intriguingly, Fowler insisted that successful real estate lawyers needed a pronounced development of the phrenological organ called “Locality”—supposedly located on the forehead—which prevented them from getting lost while inspecting properties and conveying land.

This emphasis reflected the realities of 1920s real estate practice, which involved extensive travel, property surveys, and on-site inspections in an era before widespread automobile ownership, comprehensive mapping systems, or modern GPS technology. The ability to physically navigate unfamiliar territory was indeed a practical requirement—though phrenology’s explanation for this skill was, of course, entirely spurious.

The Criminal Lawyer: Detective-Analyst Hybrid

Criminal defense attorneys, Fowler argued, needed the “Mental-Vital” temperament—combining intellectual acuity with physical stamina to withstand the “gritty details of crime.” These practitioners supposedly required heightened “Secretiveness” (the ability to understand hidden motives) and “Intuition” (immediate insight into character).

This characterization reflected the 1920s popular image of criminal lawyers as hard-boiled investigators operating in an urban underworld. The decade saw rising crime rates, sensational murder trials, and the birth of organized crime syndicates during Prohibition (1920-1933). Criminal lawyers occupied a romantic, slightly disreputable space in the American imagination—part detective, part morally ambiguous operator navigating the shadows of society.

The Barrister (Trial Lawyer): The Fighter in Court

For courtroom litigators, Fowler identified “Combativeness” as the essential quality—supposedly indicated by prominent development behind the ears. Without this “fight center,” she warned, attorneys would be “crushed in cross-examination.”

This martial metaphor for litigation reflected both the adversarial nature of American legal practice and the broader 1920s cultural valorization of competitive, aggressive masculinity. The decade celebrated “fighting spirit” in business, sports, and professional life—part of the “go-getter” ethos that defined Jazz Age success culture.

Other Specializations: From Patents to Domestic Relations

Fowler’s taxonomy extended to:

• Patent lawyers: Requiring “Constructiveness” and “Causality” to understand mechanical innovations
• Commercial lawyers: Needing “Acquisitiveness” (business sense) balanced with “Secretiveness” (tact)
• Solicitors: Indoor workers with “Vital-Mental” temperaments for drafting wills and contracts
• Judges: Varying requirements depending on jurisdiction (Children’s Court judges needed more “Vital” warmth; Criminal Court judges needed “Motive” physical presence)
• Domestic relations lawyers: Requiring highly developed “Social qualities” to understand family dynamics

This extraordinary specificity reveals how 1920s vocational guidance attempted to impose scientific-seeming order on the increasingly complex modern economy. As professional specialization accelerated, career advisors sought systems—however pseudoscientific—to match individuals with appropriate niches.

Women in Law: Progressive Recognition Amid Pseudoscience

Surprisingly progressive for its era, Fowler’s article concluded by acknowledging women’s growing presence in the legal profession. She noted that women were “particularly qualified, through their large Conscientiousness” for positions in Civil Service and executive administration, working in Custom Houses, Post Offices, and state and municipal departments.

This recognition, while still constrained by gendered assumptions about women’s “natural” conscientiousness and attention to detail, reflected genuine social change. By 1924, women had been voting for only four years (since the 19th Amendment in 1920), and female attorneys remained rare but increasingly visible. The first women had been admitted to American law schools in the 1870s-1890s, and by the 1920s, pioneering female lawyers were establishing practices, joining government service, and occasionally serving as judges.

Fowler’s framework simultaneously recognized women’s legal capabilities while channeling them toward “appropriate” (read: administrative, detail-oriented, non-confrontational) roles—a pattern typical of 1920s professional feminism, which sought inclusion within existing gender frameworks rather than fundamental restructuring.

The Phrenological Method: Pseudoscience Meets Career Counseling

Fowler’s analysis drew heavily on phrenology, the discredited practice of reading personality from skull contours, supplemented by physiognomy (reading character from facial features) and theories about bodily temperaments inherited from ancient Greek medicine.

According to phrenological theory, different regions of the brain controlled specific mental faculties—from “Combativeness” to “Acquisitiveness” to “Conscientiousness”—and these faculties’ relative strength caused corresponding skull regions to enlarge or remain small. By measuring and palpating skulls, phrenologists claimed to create detailed personality profiles and career recommendations.

Though mainstream science had rejected phrenology by the late 19th century, it retained popular appeal well into the 1920s for several reasons:

1. Apparent scientific authority: Phrenology used measurements, classifications, and technical terminology that mimicked legitimate science
2. Tangible assessment: Physical examination felt more concrete than abstract psychological testing
3. Deterministic clarity: It offered definitive answers in an increasingly uncertain modern world
4. Democratic accessibility: Unlike expensive psychological consultations, phrenological charts and self-assessment guides were affordable and widely available

The Broader Cultural Context: Professionalization and Anxiety in the 1920s

Fowler’s article must be understood within the broader anxieties of 1920s American professional culture. The decade witnessed:

• Rapid economic expansion creating new career opportunities alongside intense competition
• Increasing educational requirements for professional entry, generating pressure to “choose correctly”
• Urbanization and anonymity disrupting traditional community-based career placement
• Scientific management principles (Taylorism) promising efficiency through proper job matching
• Self-improvement culture emphasizing personal development and optimization

Into this environment, systems like phrenology offered comforting certainty: natural aptitudes could be scientifically identified, proper career placement was discoverable, and success resulted from correct matching between individual constitution and professional demands.

The Legal Profession in 1924: Specialization and Transformation

The legal field itself was experiencing significant transformation during this period. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw:

• Increasing specialization as legal practice grew more complex
• Rise of corporate law firms replacing solo practitioners
• Formalization of legal education through university-affiliated law schools
• Bar examination standardization across states
• Growth of government legal positions in expanding regulatory agencies

Fowler’s granular categorization of legal specialties—while pseudoscientifically justified—actually reflected real professional differentiation occurring within the legal field. Her categories mapped onto genuine practice areas that were emerging or consolidating during this period.

Legacy and Modern Perspective

From our 21st-century vantage point, Fowler’s phrenological career counseling appears quaint at best, dangerously discriminatory at worst. The idea that facial bone structure or skull bumps determine professional aptitude has been thoroughly discredited. Modern career counseling relies on validated psychological assessments, skills testing, interest inventories, and empirical research about job performance predictors.

Yet this 1924 article provides valuable historical insight into:

• How Americans understood personality, aptitude, and professional identity during a transformative era
• The persistence of pseudoscientific thinking even in educated, aspirational communities
• Early attempts to systematize career guidance in an increasingly complex economy
• Gender dynamics in professional life during the early years of women’s suffrage
• The cultural authority of “scientific” language and methodology in popular discourse

Below, you’ll find the complete original article transcription, allowing you to examine Jessie Allen Fowler’s actual words and explore the fascinating details of this 1924 vocational guidance document. Whether your own skull shape supposedly qualifies you for legal practice or not, this historical artifact offers a compelling glimpse into how dramatically our understanding of human capability and career potential has evolved over the past century.

📥 Love vintage pseudoscience? Download this complete 1924 issue plus the entire December/January Character Reading Magazine collection in high-resolution JPGs and PDFs! Perfect for researchers, history enthusiasts, and lovers of quirky Americana. Get your digital archive here →

Original Text: Qualifications for the Lawyer

(Transcribed from the December 1924 Issue of Character Reading)

Qualifications for the Lawyer By Jessie Allen Fowler

Editor’s Note.—Many, many men and women will look into these eyes with gratitude as they see the above picture.

The keen eyes of Jessie Allen Fowler, the analytical nose, the beautiful, honor loving mouth are responsible for huge numbers of successes in the business world today. She gave them the missing link—the knowledge of themselves and their abilities which enabled them to make their money.

Character Reading is fortunate to be able to print her authoritative article—the first of a vocational series, on the qualifications of the Lawyer.

LAW is an analytical subject, and all persons who study it as a profession should possess an analytical mind. There are, however, several branches of this profession, and one who studies it should decide whether he wishes to become a Barrister, a Commercial Lawyer, a Patent Lawyer, a Criminal Lawyer, a Real Estate Lawyer, a Solicitor, a Judge, a Magistrate, a Lawyer of Domestic Relations, or an International Lawyer.

BARRISTER A Barrister should have a Mental Temperament, and the faculties for his success are large Language, Comparison, Self-esteem, Combativeness and Mirthfulness (which combined with Comparison with Wit); also a full degree of Sublimity, Human Nature and Conscientiousness.

COMMERCIAL LAWYER A Commercial Lawyer must have a well-balanced Temperament, joined to Acquisitiveness. Constructiveness, Secretiveness or tact, and Intuition to aid him in his profession.

PATENT LAWYER A Patent Lawyer is a specialist. He should have a well-balanced Temperament, and should possess large Comparison, Causality and Constructiveness, as well as strong Perceptive Faculties.

CRIMINAL LAWYER The Criminal Lawyer needs a Mental-Vital Temperament. He has to search out crime and discover all kinds of evidence from perplexing environments. He must therefore have large Intuition, a full amount of Agreeableness, Imitation or adaptability, Secretiveness, Firmness or will power, and Comparison to take pleasure in dealing with personality.

REAL ESTATE LAWYER The Real Estate Lawyer needs a Mental-Motive Temperament, for he has to do with property and is generally an active man. He has much outside work to do, and requires a large development of Locality, Form, Size, Calculation, Comparison, Conscientiousness, and a fair degree of Order. He has to transfer property, search titles, select residences for his customers, and make important deals in property for busi- (Continued on Page 32.)

Qualifications for the Lawyer. (Continued from Page 16.)

ness purposes.

A Solicitor requires a Vital-Mental Temperament, for he has indoor head work to do and has Wills and Contracts to make out, hence he needs Intuition, Agreeableness, Causality and Constructiveness.

JUDGE A Judge, Magistrate and Justice of the Peace have similar work to perform, hence they all need the Mental Temperament in predominance. A Judge of the Children’s Court should have more of the Vital than the Motive Temperament, combined with the Mental, as he has to adapt himself to children and requires the Social Faculties to help him to understand matters relative to family life. In the Criminal Court he needs more of the Motive Temperament. He should also have large Intuition, Causality, Comparison and Conscientiousness, with a full degree of Language, Self-esteem and the Perceptive Faculties.

The requirements necessary for a person who wishes to become a successful Lawyer are soundness of judgment, capacity to understand the principles upon which things are done, a desire to go back to the origin of things, ability to analyze both sides of a subject, power to reason from premises taken or understood, ability to study causes from known effects, ability to reason analogically and draw correct conclusions, also capacity to take circumstances and conditions into account; power to perceive the relation of things and ability to criticize carefully as well as compare, illustrate and classify all kinds of knowledge; memory to recall previous cases that have been tried, system in arranging facts, conscientious regard for truth and a due regard for promises, agreements and personal obligations. A retentive memory is also necessary to recall the locality where things have happened as well as to remember faces.

DIFFERENT PHASES OF LAW The Lawyer who is a Pleader or Barrister must necessarily have a large development of Language, or verbal expression, for it is not enough for him to know a thing, but he must be able to explain lucidly what he knows, or, in other words, make a word picture of everything a Court requires. It may not be necessary for him to know a foreign language, but he must have some knowledge of Latin, and study the fundamentals of a language in order to make researches and state accurately incidents that he has to prove.

If a person is going to take up Corporation Law, his knowledge will naturally be concentrated on business. If he takes up politics (and most political men were lawyers to begin with), his capacity as a Barrister will enable him to understand and explain the policies of his particular party, or, as the case may be, all parties.

If he is going to center his attention upon Banking, he must study investments and be well equipped in figures and mathematics, and know the net value of commodities.

If he sells Real Estate he must draw up Wills, business conveyances, contracts, leases, and search titles to property.

An Office Lawyer is quite different than one who has to be out on the road, traveling through the states or gathering information from foreign countries. It will be readily seen that the Vital Temperament is necessary in the one case, where the person does his work indoors, while the Motive Temperament is required by a person who has considerable outdoor work to do.

A Lawyer who is interested in Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks must have constructive ability as well as analytical skill, so that no infringement will escape his attention.

The question of Marriage is another important subject for the Lawyer to acquaint himself with, and those who give their attention to Law in connection with Domestic Relations, or Divorce proceedings, must be particularly equipped with the Social qualities, for they are called upon to understand the fundamental rights and duties involved in social relations, the maintenance of offspring, property laws in connection with marriage, and many other essential points. Thus all the social elements are called into play.

If a person chooses Criminal Law, he must be well qualified to understand character, and possess a large amount of Intuition, and become really a good Detective. Some lawyers, like Joseph H. Choate, know how to laugh a case out of court, for they have a keen sense of humor and bring much merriment or sarcasm into court, as the case may be. For Murder cases one must understand the statutes which divide the crime into murder of various degrees.

If a Lawyer wishes to study the processes of Naturalization, he must have a full knowledge of the countries where (Continued on Page 33.)

the naturalization is to be made, and must have an analytical knowledge which will apply to citizenship.

If women are to continue to figure as capitalists, tax-payers, litigants and voters, they ought certainly to make themselves thoroughly acquainted with legal science; and this they are doing, for we have a large percentage of women Lawyers, not only before the bar, but taking part in public civil service, in Custom Houses and Post Offices, and in State and Municipal Departments of executive administration, and they are also taking part in functions not merely clerical but often confidential, and in the latter work women are particularly qualified, through their large Conscientiousness, their neat habits and constant devotion and regularity of their work, to be thoroughly successful.

📥 Love vintage pseudoscience? Download this complete 1924 issue plus the entire December/January Character Reading Magazine collection in high-resolution JPGs and PDFs! Perfect for researchers, history enthusiasts, and lovers of quirky Americana. Get your digital archive here →

Advertisements from these pages:

Page 22

GOING UP! Several of our subscribers who missed out on the first number of Character Reading have written in saying that they will gladly pay 50c for a copy of Vol. I No. 1. One said he would pay anything asked. Since the first run of this magazine was exhausted some time ago we are unable to fill these orders but if readers of Character Reading will send in their own or inquire among their friends we will pay 45c for each copy of Vol. I No. 1 sent in.

Worth Money! A complete file will not only be worth money when sold but it will bring you money as a reference guide in the study of character reading. Start now. If you have not been fortunate enough to secure the first number do not let your file be broken by omitting any other numbers.

A Few Left We still have a few, a limited supply of back numbers starting with Vol. I No. 2 and including Vol. I No. 3 and 4. Any one of these will be sent postpaid for 28c. No sample copies.

Did You Miss These? Following are some of the articles that have appeared in previous issues of Character Reading. Learn About Yourself by Radio. The Language of the Foot. The Most Practical Thing in the World. How Do You Cross Your T’s? Confidence Man. Would You Be a Nurse? The Jack of All Trades. He Can’t Fail on His Job. How Would You Like to Be Joyful Always. Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Noses of a Great City. Yes, We Have Wizards Today. Curled or Straight—Which? “Are We Congenial Types?” If You Were Selling a Cur to These Men. Did You Know This About Your Sweetheart? Those Eyes in the Back of Your Head. Don’t Make Your Child Another You. Organized Psychology. What I See in the Eyes of a Big Business Man. What Is Your Horse Power? Mechanics Once—Motor Kings Now. The She-Woman—The He-Man. Stammering Is Curable. The Way You Write Reveals Your Thoughts. The Way These Hands Caress. Better Health—Better Art. The Shorthand Route to Hollywood. Would You Be a Success on the Stage? Life Is So Short and Marriage So Long. What and Where Is Personality? We Call It Dancing. A Human Broadcasting Station. Your Writing Reveals Your Character. The Job Detective. Send 28c each for these three numbers and begin this study right.

CHARACTER READING PUBLISHERS Capitol Bldg. Chicago, Ill.

Page 30

WRITE TO ME IN Your own handwriting, answering the following questions: Name as it was given me at birth. Name I am using now. Exact day of birth, and year. Complete analysis of character, and business ability by the science of numbers, names, and handwriting. Enclose $1.00 for this most interesting reading of yourself. BYRD L. TAYLOR, 557 Barry Ave., Chicago

FUN and FACTS Character described from your Handwriting. My analysis will show whether or not you are affectionate selfish impatient generous sensitive restless impulsive conceited original conscientious stubborn talented opinionated jealous cultured If you want to know about yourself and your friends send letters in ink on plain paper, seventy-five cents and stamped envelope to A. M. HOWE, Graphologist 22 Maple Street Georgetown, Mass.

NOTICE Because of the great demand for back numbers and single copies it is therefore impossible to supply sample copies. Although we know that sending a sample copy invariably means a yearly subscription, we must take care of those who send money with their request. Current numbers and back numbers are being sent promptly, postpaid for 28c. Publishers of “CHARACTER READING”

GIVE A HELPFUL PRESENT! If you have friends in whose welfare you are interested—If you want to be a stepping-stone in their path to success you will resolve to introduce your friends to Character Reading Magazine. SUBSCRIBE TODAY Plan to remember them with a yearly subscription to the magazine that helps you to recognize your place in life. Yearly Subscription $1.50 Canadian $1.75 Address Character Reading Magazine 159 North State Street CHICAGO, ILL.

This Guaranteed “LINCOLN” Pen Free! (A Handsome Christmas Gift) You will be proud to own this beautiful non-leaking pen for your own use. You will also be proud to give it to a friend this Christmas. It is Character Reading’s Gift To You The Lincoln pen has attractively chased hard rubber barrel, solid gold pen and gold filled lever and safety clasp. Guaranteed for 1 Year. Sells at retail for $2.00. You get it free! By purchasing in large quantities for our many readers we are able to give you this pen free for a limited time. Do not delay a moment if you want this bargain either for yourself or for a friend. Here’s how to get it: Simply send us $1.50 plus 4c postage and we will list your name to receive CHARACTER READING MAGAZINE for ONE year and send you the pen without charge except the 4c to cover postage. You save $2.00. Character Reading Magazine 159 North State St., Chicago, Ill.

Page 32

This Is What Can Be Done By a Book Club Through the Character Book Club you may obtain combinations of books at considerably less than retail price. Here is the first happy combination we have prepared for you, entitled “The Beginner’s Tool Chest” containing the correct books for those who wish to take up this great study of character and vocational analysis, either as a hobby leading to positive social success, or as a vocation which will bring you independence for life. In this study it is just as important to read nothing you will have to unlearn later, as it is to learn the correct facts of human nature study. The combination consists of Character Reading by Theron Q. Dumont. A 223 page book profusely illustrated with heads, faces, hands, covering the temperaments, faculties, hands, expression. Attractively bound in red buckram. Handwriting and Its Meaning The first lesson of a complete course by Hall Cameron on this important and seemingly miraculous method of reading people. The Zodiac and Its Mysteries by Prof. A. E. Seward. This book furnishes a royal road to learning the great study of astrology, and its close relation to phrenology will be realized more and more by the serious student in character reading. The Hindoo Yogi Science of Breath By Yogi Ramacharaka We cannot place people in their right work unless we sometimes remedy their health. This book should be one of the Bibles in every character analyst’s library. It gives full instructions, the charm of a novel, on how to take up Oxygen, the money making and health producing chemical of the body. The Character Series 5 vest pocket volumes for the study of people on cars and in parks, by Edna Purdy Walsh. A Five Dollar Bill will bring all nine books to you by return mail. They may be returned and your money refunded if you do not find them satisfactory, within ten days. Address THE CHARACTER BOOK CLUB 8 East Randolph Street Chicago, Ill.

BOOKS FOR EVERYBODY Worry Hurry, Flurry, Scurry Cured—Towne ………. 25c As a Man Thinketh—James Allen… 25c The Art of Character Reading—Bremken ……….. 35c Vegetarianism in the Light of Theosophy—Dr. Besant ……… 15c Vegetarian Magazine (gives menus) 15c Above Five for $1.00, Postpaid Love and Affection—Paper $1.10, Cloth $1.50 Brother of the Third Degree, Occult Fiction, fascinating and worth while—Will Garver ……… $2.65 Fasting and Man’s Correct Diet—Pearson ………. $1.75 Above Three for $5.00, Postpaid PURDY PUBLISHING CO. 1723 Stevens Bldg. 17 No. State St. CHICAGO, ILLS.

Page 33

SPIRITUAL NUMEROLOGY AND ASTROLOGY The oldest, truest and most tried Sciences, contain the KEY to Self-Understanding and the solving of human problems. The Numerical Analysis of your Name and Birthdate will transform your whole life; will show you what your number vibrations mean to you and to the people around you, and just how they affect your chances in health, love, marriage, social and family life, vocational and business pursuits; how they attract or repel Prosperity and the good of life; show you just what is keeping you from the success your heart craves and just how to overcome it, and just how to “balance your forces” and move along in the rhythm of YOUR LIFE’S GOOD, and just how to find your true place in the world’s work. Prophetic outline of the New Year, 1925, month by month, as governed by YOUR birthdate, included without extra charge with all requests for NUMBERSCOPE Delineation received within thirty days. First letters will receive first attention. Write me today enclosing $1.00 for my INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO YOU. Rev. N. Ve Simmons-Keeler Renowned Character and Personality Analyst Evangelist; Teacher; Psychologist. 825-27 Kimball Bldg., Jackson and Wabash Thousands have been helped by my knowledge. My twenty years’ successful experience in the ministry of service to others is my assurance to you that I can help YOU. Write TODAY.

Page 38

Beautiful Complexion IN 15 DAYS Clear your complexion of pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, red spots, enlarged pores, oily skin and other blemishes. I can give you a complexion soft, rosy, clear, velvety beyond your fondest dream. And I do it in a few days. My method is different. No cosmetics, lotions, salves, soaps, ointments, plasters, bandages, masks, vapor sprays, massage, rollers or other implements. No diet, no fasting. Nothing to take. Cannot injure the most delicate skin. Send for my Free Booklet. You are not obligated. Send no money. Just get the facts. Dorothy Ray, 646 N. Michigan Blvd., Suite 186, Chicago

WHO’S STOPPING YOU from getting all there is in life? Is It You? Start the day right with a “PEP COCKTAIL” and in a week’s time you will wonder where you’ve been since birth. “Character Reading” Diet Bureau will send you this cocktail formula FREE but five two cent stamps should be sent to cover cost of printing and mailing. Address: CHARACTER READING DIET BUREAU 159 N. State St., Chicago, Ill.

STOP DIGGING YOUR GRAVE WITH YOUR TEETH Learn to eat Iriologically. The new scientific discovery of feeding the body according to the colors found in the eye. Do you know why your eyes are green, gray, brown, hazel, etc. These colors are produced by the acids, toxins, and drugs inherited or acquired due to wrong eating from childhood. Iriology is a science that explains this unusual discovery. Most diseases are due to wrong food combinations. You may be eating wholesome food, and still be poisoning your body, with a chemical your body does not demand. Most people spend from $2 to $10 a week on foods that they could save, and ultimately feel better. For instance, brown eyed people should not use milk or eggs, whereas gray eyed people should use certified milk, but no bread or cereals of any kind. ASTHMA, CATARRH, ECZEMA, ACNE, GOITER, CONSTIPATION, HEADACHES, INDIGESTION, NERVOUSNESS, ETC., can be cured by an Iriological Diet. Testimonials of chronic cases cured where others have failed. Tell us the colors of your eyes and send us twenty cents, and we will send you colored charts, also articles on Human Vibrations and A Fight for Life. LEVINE HEALTH INSTITUTE Suite 611—162 N. State St., Chicago, Ill.

The Radiant Will Project your WILL by Telepathy and get what you want. Our system of “MIND TRANSFUSION” brings surprising results. Can be mastered in a week. Address CONSTRUCTIVE PSYCHOLOGY LEAGUE Dept. ? 4675 Lake Park Avenue, Chicago

We Can Analyze Your Brain! We can analyze your face! We can analyze your handwriting! We can analyze the chemicals of your body! We can analyze the astrological influence at work in you! BUT That inner urge—that inner life lesson—that subconscious dream— Your Purpose Here Did you ever come face to face with it? The most ancient science, and yet the most modern one— The Science of Numbers and Vibration reveals the naked truth about where you stand in the universe. It reveals your evolution. Take Advantage of This Offer Without Charge to You Send us your name just as it was given you at birth, and also the names you have used since then. Send us the exact date of your birth. We will send you free of charge the story of your own evolution—just how far you have come along the path of progress, and what you are endeavoring to learn in this—the present expression of your eternal life. Character Reading Publishers 159 No. State St., Chicago I enclose $1.50 for one year’s subscription to Character Reading, with which I am to receive a free analysis by the science of numbers and vibration. Name …………………. Name at birth …………………. Names used since …………………. Birthday ………………….

Page 39

For Those Who Search for Treasures The Character Book Club Has Secured the Following Courses: Complete course in spiritual numerology, the science of numbers. Based on the Bible. The most thorough and exhaustive work ever done on this absorbing subject ………….. $25.00 Esoteric and Exoteric Phrenology, by Rev. N. Ve Simmons Keeler ………….. $10.00

DECIDE RIGHT NOW TO BE WELL! We have no time in this life to be sick and besides, when we think it over, there is no fun in it—and less money. Here Is Information on How to Eat for Real Health Dr. Chas. B. McFerrin, one of the foremost Diet experts in America has compiled a Kitchen Food Chart that tells at a glance what foods combine and what foods cannot be eaten at the same time. All the information that this great student of diet has gained in over 20 years of constant study has been employed in compiling this chart for you. Dr. McFerrin’s Kitchen Chart will instruct you in a few moments how to combine foods that will build stable, lasting health so that you may be efficient in your work and produce to the maximum. Following are some of the headings of subjects given on this chart: Wrong Food Combinations Right Combinations Gas Forming Foods Non Gas Forming Foods Foods That Digest in 1 Hour Foods That Digest in 2 Hours Foods That Digest in 3 Hours The Medicinal Value of Vegetables How to Tell Tubercular Meats Transitional Dinners Atonement Menus Many other hints and pointers are given in this large two page chart. 17 inches wide and 25 inches long, ready to hang in the kitchen. Printed in red and black on white, heavy paper. Price only $2.50. A splendid Christmas present. Order from CHARACTER READING DIET BUREAU 159 North State Street Chicago, Ill.

CHARACTER READING LEADS TO CHARACTER BUILDING My 12 Lessons on “The Dynamic Law of Prosperity” will SHOW YOU JUST HOW to build yourself up and get the good things of life your heart craves. Send $1.00 today for TONIC TALK No. 1. Full information on PROSPERITY BUILDING will be sent free. Rev. N. Ve Simmons-Keeler Character and Personality Analyst 825-27 Kimball Bldg. Chicago, Illinois

ARE YOU IN LOVE? Do You Wish to Attract More Friends of the Opposite Sex? Or Realize More Harmony with Your Better Half? Send us your birth date and that of your “best friend” with an enclosure of $2.00 and we will give you a comparative analysis of your strong points of attraction. If you are at a loss to choose between TWO equally interesting friends, send us both names and enclose $3.00. Please include full names at birth and present signatures with the birth dates. JORDAN U. CURTIS Suite 1313 8 E. Randolph St. Chicago, Ills.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW What the New Year Has in Store For You? Ask our Character and Personality Analyst 159 N. State CHICAGO, ILL.

📥 Love vintage pseudoscience? Download this complete 1924 issue plus the entire December/January Character Reading Magazine collection in high-resolution JPGs and PDFs! Perfect for researchers, history enthusiasts, and lovers of quirky Americana. Get your digital archive here →