Other than the First World War, it appears there was another significant conflict raging a century ago. But this battlefield was not overseas; it was on the streets of Southampton , and the combatants were rival dentists. The Southampton and District Pictorial, a precursor to the Daily Echo, was a weekly publication sold for a mere three halfpence.
Within its pages, no fewer than five dental surgeries were locked in a fierce competition for patients, their advertisements vying for attention among the paper’s columns. Aloysius Browne and Son, based on St Mary Street, undoubtedly had the most striking advertisement. They boasted that patients flocked to them from miles around, drawn by their promise of "every care, attention, and civility" alongside a pledge of "no pain at each operation.
" (Image: Echo) Not to be outdone, the Public Dental Society of Above Bar countered with "painless extractions, free when artificial teeth are ordered," while Macdonald's surgery, situated nearby, offered a reassuring message: "If a tooth can be saved, we will save it. If it cannot be saved, you will be told frankly." Beyond the dental drama, The Southampton and District Pictorial, which incorporated Southampton Amusements, provided its readers with news from the home front and the battlefields of the First World War.
One such article highlighted the perilous experiences of Mr H Jacobs, the Southampton chief steward of the oil tanker OB Jennings. The Pictorial reported that Jacobs had survive.