Judge, 1921-02-12 · page 11 of 32
Judge — February 12, 1921 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Fall Guys" - Explanation for Modern Readers This is a satirical story (not a political cartoon) by Walt Mason about perpetually unlucky people—"fall guys"—who experience constant misfortune despite virtue and hard work. The illustration shows three men in an office examining a "Zenith Investment Corp." chart. The caption references a "hot-air merchant" trading the fall guy "blue sky for his roll"—a reference to worthless stock schemes and investment fraud that were common during the early 20th century. Mason's piece satirizes both bad luck and the economic system that exploits the working poor. Fall guys are described as hardworking, thrifty, and rule-following, yet they suffer car accidents, bank closures (where managers abscond with deposits), swindles by con-artist merchants, and everyday mishaps. The satire suggests that virtue alone cannot protect ordinary people from systematic exploitation and random catastrophe—a critique of unchecked capitalism and the precariousness of working-class life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
pe ZENITH INVESTMENT CORR { “SOME HOT-AIR MERCHANT COMES ALOS AND TRADES HIM HEUP SKY FOR HIS ROLL.” The Fall Guys By Watt Mason Mlustration b HE fall guys walk, with weary tread, throughout this world so sad and wide; they never drop their slice of bread, but that it strikes the buttered side. They're often men of sterling worth, yet to the wailing place they troop; their portion should be Disaster, in a misfortune joy and mirth, but all they ever get is soup. strident tone, proclaims them victims, as they go; marked them for her own, when first they reached the vale of woe. A str of luck the fall guy lacks, by fortune he was never kissed; his car will gather up the tacks that all the other cars have missed. The fall guy drives with ceaseless care, obeys the road rules, one and all; and so it seems unjust, unfair, that accidents should him befall. Yet when there is an auto wreck the fall guy’s found, against tree, the steering gear around his neck, a spectacle that’s sad to sce The fall guy a thrifty gent, on frugal ways perhaps crank; he saves up every hard-earned cent and puts it in the village bank. He looks ahead to when he’s old, to when his dome is bald and gray; and then he'll a store of gold to keep the well-known wolf away. And such a course is safe and sane, as every reader will admit; for when there comes the day of rain, the hefty package makes a hit. A stack of greenbacks crisp and new, is certainly a man’s best friend; but everything the fall guys do will be a fizzle in the end. Some morning when the fall guy goes to bank some twelve Raten Bartox or fourteen bones, he gets the fiercest of all blows; he fills the air with wails and groans. The village bank has closed its rs, excitement in the hamlet reigns; the president, to other shores, has flown with his ill-gotten gains. The fall guy, stricken to the heart, is almost broken by the shock; vet he will make another start, and hide his money in a sock. And when again he’s going strong, and feels he yet will reach his goal, some hot-air merchant comes along and trades him ky for his roll We see the paupers stand in line, a sad and seedy bunch, in truth; we “They might be .doing fine, had they been thrifty in their youth.” Yet many worked to earn the red save it for a prudent end, but they were fall guys, born and bred, misfortune was their constant friend. Ii there’s an orange peel in town, the fal guy on that peel will tread, and like a ton of brick come down, and slide three furlongs on his head, If there's a riot on the block, and stones and dornicks fill the tir, the fall guy’s sure to stop a rock, though he is but a watcher there, If the skaters g an hour ¢ Oh, other men may sing and whoop, and have the gayest, blithest time; the fall guy only harvests soup, and finds this mortal life a crime. say and "sa risky piece of ice down on the pond, where . the fall guy hits it in a trice, and drowns for half comicbooks.com