Judge, 1916-02-19 · page 19 of 28
Judge — February 19, 1916 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Johnnie Walker whisky advertisement** disguised as humorous editorial content in Judge magazine. The cartoon depicts gentlemen playing bridge (a popular card game), with one player making a joke about declaring "Four Red Label Johnnie Walkers" instead of a legitimate bridge bid. The humor relies on: 1. **The pun**: Conflating bridge card declarations with drinking whisky 2. **The implicit satire**: Suggesting that among the sophisticated set ("those who are in the know"), ordering whisky during card games is as natural as making bridge bids 3. **The product placement**: The ad emphasizes Johnnie Walker's age ("over 10 years old") and quality as a selling point The header "Born 1820—Still going strong" anthropomorphizes the whisky brand itself as enduring and vital. This represents early 20th-century advertising that masked commercial promotion within entertainment content—blurring the line between editorial and advertisement in ways modern readers would find deceptive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Born 1820 —Still. going strong: Declarer : “Two Hearts.” 2nd Player; “Two Rovats.” 3rd Player (absent-mindedly, but very dry): ‘ Four Rep Laset ‘ Jounnie WALKERS’ FROM A NON-REFILLABLE BOTTLE.” Of all Bridge declarations, ‘four Red ‘Johnnie Walkers’ is undoubtedly the most popular among those who are in the know. It is only when one discovers the exceptional and unvarying ‘Johnnie Walker" quality that one understands its unprecedented vogue. Every drop of ‘Johnnie Walker" Red Label in a non-refillable bottle is over 10 years old. GUARANTEED SAME QUALITY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. Agents: WILLIAMS & HUMBERT, 1158 Broadway, NEW YORK. JOHN WALKER & SONS, Lro., Waisky Disttiters, KILMARNOCK, Scottano. comicbooks.com