Reporter,Clive White combs the Craven Herald of 1916 and finds that the advertisements give a fascinating social snapshop of the time.

AS would be expected of 100 years ago, the tales that made up the Craven Herald of that period, though predominantly stories about WW1, were not so different from today - court cases, council meetings, community squabbles.

What is very noticeably different, however, are the advertisements, especially the adverts for quack remedies of which there are umpteen.

Before strict rules were introduced on what you could claim and show in an advert, it was almost a free-for-all. Littered throughout the Craven Herald are remedies for everything from bunions to gout, blood poisoning to piles. And often by using the same concoction.

Prevalent throughout the editions of 1916 was a commercial which appeared almost every week, mostly accompanied by a line drawing of a fashionably dressed, 18 inch waisted girl skipping feather-like down a flight of steps.

But the manufacturer had a number of other images to catch the eye including the same young woman having returned from an exhausting shopping expedition, dipping her aching feet into a bowl of liquid and another image of her dressed in her lingerie admiring her feet with the caption that the magical substance makes your feet smaller.

To cash in on the war, occasionally they used a drawing of a Tommy in his uniform rubbing his booted foot.

The remarkable cure was TIZ, the makers bragging that it was a universal remedy for tired and sore feet which when used "makes you feel like just dancing" - not forgetting it makes them smaller.

"Girls!" it declares, don't have puffed up perspiring feet or corns, just try TIZ the magical concoction. It is the only remedy that draws out all the poisonous exudations so you'll never limp or draw up your face in pain."

Once these young women had sorted out their feet, they could next turn to a medicine which would focus on their skin, tackling eczema, scrofula, bad legs, boils, pimples, rheumatism and gout.

The cure came in the form of Clarke's Blood mixture with 50 years of success behind it. They tell us; "It is composed of ingredients which quickly expel from the blood all impurities from whatever cause arising and by rendering it clear and pure can be relied upon to effect a lasting cure."

Even children could not escape the quackery, especially if they looked a bit listless and fed up. Parents were told that if they spotted their little ones had a coated tongue or were suffering sickness and feverishness they should give them a dose of Californian Syrup of Figs.

To catch their eye, the manufacturer accompanied their advert with a line drawing of a small girl, lying back in a chair, sad faced and with her doll slumped listlessly across her knee.

And if all this potion gave you a storming headache, you could send for Kaputine, the safe remedy for headache. The medicine appeared on your doorstep by mail order following postage to Mr Kaputine of Manchester.

One of the most skilfully illustrated adverts was for Pears' soap which depicted a troop of soldiers, their women in a carriage, trudging across a rocky, dusty landscape. The advert tells us it's the time of the Afghan War of 1839-42.

Near the front is a mule carrying on its back a box, but not containing ammunition, as you might expect, but Pears' soap, the words emblazoned on the sides of the container.

Seemingly, so the blurb says, Pears' can cope with any type of climate because it does not shrink. "It remains firm in all weather conditions."

Still with the troops in mind Raleigh was encouraging Skiptonians to buy their all steel bicycles by revealing how they were robust enough to be used on the Western Front.

And with the health of the troops in mind, some bright spark had come up with The Patent Egg Carrier, ideal for the safe dispatch by rail to soldiers at the front. Ingeniously, it had adjustable suspenders to accommodate any size of egg.

Fashion and clothing took up much advertising space especially in the spring and summer when women were encouraged to look to their wardrobe and keep up with the new trends by buying from Tatham & Son in Settle where the hems of the skirts were high enough to expose the ankle.

They were urged to compliment their look with "stylish" footwear from the Public Benefit Boot Co in Swadford Street, Skipton.