Judge, 1918-08-03 · page 3 of 32
Judge — August 3, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "This War-Time Game of Submarine Peek-a-Boo" This August 1918 cartoon satirizes the dangers of submarine warfare during World War I. The illustration shows American naval officers in a small boat atop a massive, menacing German U-boat (submarine), depicted as a sea creature with tentacles. The officers appear engaged in a precarious, almost playful "game" of avoiding detection. The accompanying poem by Berton Braley expresses sailors' perspective: anticipating war's end while acknowledging the genuine terror of submarine attacks. The satire critiques the grim reality—that maintaining vigilance against U-boats remains deadly serious despite calling it a "game." The cartoon captures American anxiety about German submarines, which posed a genuine threat to Allied shipping throughout WWI.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
aug -1 1918 Cersr7osoe Volume 75 $5.00 a Year JUDGE Number 1920 10 Cents a Copy Entered at the Post-office at New York as second-class mail matter New York, Aucust 3, 1918 Published weekly by the Leslie-Judge Com: 225 Pifth Avenue, New York City Nightmared by C. Bertram Hartman “Tris War-Time Game or SusMARINE Peex-a-Boo” SPECULATION By Berton BRraLey HEN the war is over an’ we can sail With our lights a shinin’ free, An’ we needn’t watch fer a U-boat’s trail Slinkin’ under the sea; When we kin steam at an easy lope An’ the decks are clear of guns, With never a sign of a periscope Along o’ the track we runs; I’m thinkin’ at first we'll find it great With never a convoy near, To plod along on a course that’s straight With nary a sub to fear, Yet, after playin’ this war-time game Of submarine peck-a-boo, I’m wonderin’ won’t we find it tame With nothin’ like that to do? Yes, after drawin’ our every breath In the perils that we has known, An’ playin’ at hide an’ seek with death In the thick of the danger zone, Where a Hun torpedo may start to race A-streakin’ it fer our hull— Well, after havin’ them things to face, Won’t peace seem a leetle dull? Oh, I’ll be glad when it comes, all right, An’ there isn’t no need to ride With the gunner’s mate at the five-inch sight An’ the boats swung overside, But I’m thinkin’ some, as a feller will, That when days of peace come back, We'll be missin’ some of the old time thrill That we knew on the U-boat track! comicbooks.com