Friendly Death in a Can

They sure wanted to sell the lead they were mining back in the 20th century. That's why they added it to gasoline even though they knew there was lots of evidence that it harmed children.

It was also sold by the can, so labeled. As paint. I just found this example recently:


Lead makes a dense, opaque white paint. It also speeds up drying and has a durable, moisture-resistant surface. That little Dutch boy sure looks like he's having a good time, doesn't he? So much lead, so few brain cells left.

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Late addition: The man who came up with the idea of adding lead to gasoline was once considered one of the great inventors of the 20th century, but now is known to be responsible for all sorts of environmental devastation (not just lead but freon, too!).