Judge, 1912-09-07 · page 9 of 24
Judge — September 7, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the power of advertising in early 20th-century America through three interconnected pieces: **"No Paradox" and "Bedeviled"** are paired poems mocking how advertising creates desire. A modest girl who doesn't advertise somehow attracts suitors, while a man becomes obsessed with a woman he's never met—solely because she appears in a toothpaste ad. The satire suggests advertising manufactures attraction and romantic interest artificially. **"The Porosknit Polka"** illustration shows a couple dancing in a circular pattern, likely advertising Porosknit brand clothing. **"A Good Business"** retells the Biblical Joseph story as a joke about fortune-telling as profitable "advertising"—suggesting that any product or service can succeed through promotion, even dubious ones like fortune-telling or dentistry. The final line quips that even painful dentistry profits from advertising. The collective message: advertising has become society's dominant force, capable of selling anything—beauty, dreams, even pain—by creating artificial demand rather than addressing genuine need.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
No Paradox. ; Bedeviled. T! E pretty girl—ah, blesshereyes!— For years I've gazed upon your face, Does not pretend to advertise. Your smile, your dimples and your grace. Her modest gaze, her aspect meek Although no word we've spoken yet, The public eye seem not to seek. In fact, although we've never met, And yet—and yet! Why is it so? Your witching beauty drives me mad— She never seems to lack a beau! Oh, girlie of the tooth-soap ad! 57070, AMERICAN WOOLENS. A Good Business. When Joseph advertised that he would reveal to them the meaning of their dreams, his brothers pulled him out of the pit into which they had cast him. “Fortune telling,’’ he said shortly afterward, as he surveyed his sleek and »! Bd. Sousioy opulent circumstances, ‘‘is a pretty good OOOO OOO ORO OOO OIE) way of getting out of the hole. It pays Rn OOOO. to advertise.” It is the painless dentist who has the THE POROSKNIT POLKA. pulling ad. comicbooks.com