As a piece of design, this late-30s brochure is a tidy little masterpiece. It makes a nice connection between “Food” and “Meals,” and if you’ve been filling up on metal shavings and gravel for a month you know how good a real down-home “Food Meal” sounds. The script links the words Plus, Minus, and Best, pulling your eyes to the supine planaria that point you inside.

The only problem? You have no idea what the thing’s about.

As you may have surmised from the title of this section, this booklet concerns the wonderful effects of bran. According to the book, Depression-era foods are often bran-minus (see also shavings, gravel) and thus need a bran-boost to provide you and your family with dense & dependable defecation. Let’s take a look at how it works, shall we?