Judge, 1920-04-24 · page 12 of 36
Judge — April 24, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Let Madame Do It" — Judge Magazine Satire This is a humorous short story satirizing early automotive repair shops and their notoriously incompetent mechanics. The narrative mocks the frustration customers experienced when mechanics couldn't diagnose car problems. The joke centers on introducing "Madame Thermes," a clairvoyant hired as a garage employee to resolve the chaos. The story implicitly ridicules both the garage's mechanical ineptitude (mechanics like "Jake" who randomly try faucets and trinkets without understanding cars) and the desperation that would drive an owner to hire a fortune-teller rather than competent technicians. The bottom illustration shows women's shoes/feet, likely illustrating fashionable spring hat styles mentioned in its caption — a separate satirical item about changing fashion trends. The piece reflects 1920s anxieties about automobile reliability and the gap between automotive technology and repair-shop competence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ae Drove by Pore Remy 1 Hear You Catiinc Me! Madame Do By Harry Ixvinc Suumway Let It E were a terribly unhappy lot. Not only were the customers in an intermittent state of suf- fering, but it told on the boss, the mechanics and the habitués of the place. But no longer is it so. We are happy at last. We have a clairvoyant in our garage now. , Her name is Madame Thermes, and she came last week on a regular weekly salary, with various premiums and bonuses for extra successful and expeditious pieces of work. The place is no longer the same. What once was a perfect bedlam of profanity and pon- dering is now pacific in the extreme. In the old days we would enter the lubri- cated portals of the garage with the avowed intention of taking a drive. Sometimes this happened and then again sometimes it did not. Upon the instances when Fate willed that the wheels should stay supine, we would call upon the boss of the place and explain the situation to him. He would listen aim- lessly while we went over the details. What kind of a bus you got?” he would ask. “A Dobbin Sensitive Six.” A look of pity would then steal over his swarthy features. He would have worn the same look had we told him we were spend- ing our vacation in jail from preference, or that when we wanted a real happy evening we sat ina dentist's chair and let him try out his drills on us. Then a look of resignation would follow. “T see. Well, that can’t be helped now, can it?” he would answer. “T'll put Jake right on it.”” Then he would bawl loudly for Jake would soon from somewhere, A voice come Jake’s without a doubt, but no form could we see. “Where you at, Jake?” “Here. Underneath this Catamount Special.” “Well, come out and fix this gentleman's car. He can’t start it.” Then from under a car would come various groanings and scrapings until finally the brunette figure of Jake would come to life, just like a vision. “Yessir. Lead me to it.” Jake would examine the inside, trying all the faucets, binnacles and trinkets. Nuts would come off, then go on again. Wires would be strummed, but never seemed to strike the right pitch. Finally, when all the divining rods had been tried out and the instruction book dog- eared, Jake would claim exemption. It was beyond him. ‘There were things he could not do it seemed, impossible, Herculean things that no man could do. Affairs were in a terrible mess and a consultation was usually resorted to. It was always several days before the car would go, even at - medium stagger. It was (L____ Draws by A.B. Wauxen From Oxe Extreme to-Axotuer—Srainc Hats Do Nor Recetve THe Prominence or Former YEARS comicbooks.com