In Thunderball, James Bond has just been told by M that he is being sent to Shrublands for a two-week course of treatment. As the leaves the office, he vents to Moneypenny, who explains that M himself had recently taken the treatment, and this has been the result.
Anyway, that’s what’s happened and I must say I’ve never seen him in such wonderful form. He’s absolutely rejuvenated.”
“He looked like that blasted man in the old Kruschen Salts advertisements. But why does he pick on me to go to this nuthouse?”
Kruschen Salts are a mixture of six salts and citric acid, used as a digestive cleanser, to eliminate toxins from the body and to keep regular. People with Gout or Rheumatoid Arthritis also use it to alkalinise their bodies.
I can’t be sure that this is the one that Bond is referring to, but it seems to fit.
He couldn’t have meant this one, could he?
Wow! Every so often I will surf the Internet for some odd tidbit from the Fleming novels (which led me to John Griswold’s book some years ago). The expression of the man in the Kruschen Salts always nagged me, and lo and behold, your wonderful site popped up. This is great. What a wonderful website you have, Bruce.
Thanks Charles!
Funny, but I’m here because of Albert Camus’s “The
stranger”, where it’s character cuts the kruschen salts ad from a newspaper to keep. Cheers
More likely to be “The Frown”, I think: http://www.old-print.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=DDD0919153
I went with the smile because M was being described by Moneypenny as being in “wonderful form” and “absolutely rejuvenated.” I would say “The Frown” is probably M’s usual appearance!
“He looked like that blasted man in the old Kruschen Salts advertisements.” – Past tense, ergo “The Frown”. ‘Now’ he looks “absolutely rejuvenated” – “The Smile”!
I viewed it as past tense in that Bond has just come out of the meeting with M. He just saw him and said that he looked like that “blasted man.” There is no ‘now’ anywhere to be seen indicating a change in tense.
We’re splitting hairs, I’m sure. We see them both here now that you’ve posted the The Frown, so we know either way what Bond was talking about! Thanks!
Kruschen Salts also put in an appearance in Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, in a drawer in the narrator’s friend Carl’s room after he returns from Dijon. Carl also doses himself with Argyrol, used in that era to prevent gonnorhea.
I am here due to reading a newspaper https://www.newspapers.com/image/665754192/?terms=%22James%20C%20Fletcher%22&match=1 (search to the very bottom of the page)
” FAT MEN”
a testimonial –
with information from a doctor perhaps
Kruschen Salts – 6 mineral salts
1 tsp in the morning daily
Available: Caldwell Sweet Drug company and all drug companies (in 1932)
Bangor Daily News 11 June 1932
Thank you for posting those great old ads for Kruschen Salts. Every time I read the book; I wondered what the picture looked like