Judge, 1921-02-12 · page 32 of 32
Judge — February 12, 1921 — page 32: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **cigarette advertisement disguised as comic narrative**, not political satire. The "story" follows a man's morning: tired from breakfast, he swears off smoking and decides to fire his office boy. But then a stranger's cigarette smoke entices him, he follows the man into a store, and buys Chesterfields instead—framed as having "saved a policeman's life" (by not firing the boy, presumably). The humor is absurdist and self-aware: the narrative's title makes an exaggerated, nonsensical claim about the cigarettes' virtue. The cartoon figures are unnamed everyman characters—no specific political figures are caricatured here. The advertisement's core message: Chesterfield cigarettes are so appealing their aroma alone can redirect your worst impulses. The accompanying text emphasizes the cigarettes' "secret blend" as superior to competitors. This reflects **early 20th-century advertising techniques** that used humor and manufactured narrative to create brand loyalty through entertainment rather than product claims.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
With acknowledgments ww ‘How I saved a policemans life” ° ° EVEN THE eggs. AND SAID “The same.” WERE TIRED that morning AND SO did | AND SO q m sui smoking, AND THE coftec of. @ AND sTILe ‘kee p that DIDN'T FOOL me one bit : sone OFFICE Boy and I let that BUT WHEN after breakfast / aoe HANDSOME POLICEMAN live MY CIGARETTE tasted awful AND I'M fins to boost UY WAR (on muen. THAT MAN I follow AND A grouch started FOR PRESIDENT or something j AND WALKING to work FOR REALLY those cigarettes 1 SWORE off smoking 00 SATISFY AND DECIDED to fire ‘e) MY OFFICE boy 8) BUT JUST before I dectted Sy TO KILL a policeman. A MAN passed me. ptte SMOKING A ci cB LET TE AND SAY but the smoke THAT DRIFTED back OID SMELL good oe 6 UST a wh AND | followed him Purkish T of that Ad Domestic te ce you hungry for th atisfy The In packages of 20 protected by INTO A store. are blends and blends. but none like this ¢ y special moisture - proof wrapper. soe Chesterfield’s blend is a secret and it cannot i Also in round AIR- TIGHT tins of 50. HE THREW down two dimes be copied CIGARETTES Liccett & Myers Tosacco Co. comicbooks.com