Judge, 1912-10-05 · page 4 of 26
Judge — October 5, 1912 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top section satirizes Mr. Common Man's financial naivety. Panel 1 shows him reading *The Muckraker* magazine (likely referencing Upton Sinclair-era investigative journalism). Panel 2 depicts an advertiser pitching the magazine's credibility. Panels 3-4 reveal the irony: Common Man mortgages his home based on the magazine's stock recommendations, only to lose his investment when the stock crashes. The satire targets both gullible investors who trust magazine endorsements and the financial press's profit-driven promotion of speculative investments. "The Baseball Frenzy" below criticizes baseball's cultural obsession. The text describes championship fever gripping major cities (New York, Boston), comparing it to dangerous public mania. It warns the sport's "crass" excitement and violence contradict civilized behavior, though admiringly notes baseball's popularity transcends class boundaries. The Boston player illustration suggests contemporary championship competition.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1. Mr. Common Man reads with wender in The Muckraker, a magazine published in the interests of the dear people, vivid stories about the wickedness of captains of industry and railroad magnates and how they rob the public. A MLAN D. 2. A promoter of The Muckraker tells Mr. Common Man of the great work being done by his magazine, and dwells upon the im- mense profits to its stockholders, convincing Mr. Common Man that its stock is a good investment. 3. Mr. Common Man gives a mortgage on his home to raise money with which to buy stockin The Muckraker. He has been assured that the profits will be so large that he can cancel the mort- gage in a short time 4. Mr. Common Man a few days later, after be has invested his good money in The Muckrater’s stock, reads that the promotion was a swindle, and that millions have been taken from the public by the magazine. Mr, Common Man wakes up! THE BASEBALL FRENZY. TH BASEBALL frenzy, which makes millions in this land wild- eyed and in some respects irresponsible for those months in the year that are most trying in excitement, will come to its annual climax in a few days. The respective champions in the two greater leagues will meet for world supremacy, and the quiet part of the public that does not care for baseball—a feeble minority, by the way—should not be amazed at any development of idiosyn- crasy or even of violence on the part of “‘fans’’ of their neighborhood or ac- quaintance before and during the con- test now impending. The laws are reasonably strict as to eccentric individual behavior related to anything but baseball. The game is so popular that personal peculiarities de- veloped in its followers are overlooked even by stern judges on the bench, while the police pay no attention to eruptions consequent upon close games or the aberrations of umpires. In two centers—New York and Boston —the fever is at its height, as the Giants and the Red Sox are to contend for universal fame. In other cities, of course, the same sort of lunacy in milder form prevails, and there is no place in the country small enough or remote enough from baseball scenes to escape the contagious excitement of the sport which this meeting of the leviathans of the game will generate. A prodigious sigh of regret will es- cape the public when it is all over. But, really, it will not all be over even after the decision of this particular cham- pionship, for immediately afterward will begin speculation as to next year's contests, while hope will gradually be fanned in all the major cities whi aspire to championship teams, but never seem to get them. comicbooks.com