Napoleon Buonaparte once famously called England a nation of shopkeepers. He didn’t mean it as a compliment. There is evidence that maybe he was right. 

Victor Hugo published his great novel Les Misérables in 1862. In France it was a sensation, political dynamite. In England, however, at least one business saw it as a promotional opportunity. The “Sixpenny” 1887 English translation included a message on the inside cover – 

“What higher aim can man attain than conquest over human pain? Don’t be without a bottle of Eno’s Fruit Salt. “