Judge — May 28, 1921 — page 31: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is **not a cartoon**, but rather an **advertorial essay** — essentially an advertisement promoting advertising itself. It appears in *Judge*, a satirical magazine, making the irony deliberate. The piece defends advertising's value using the metaphor "a gold brick always looks good" — a reference to confidence schemes where worthless items are sold on appearance alone. The author argues that unlike such fraud, legitimate advertising comes only from reputable manufacturers with genuine products, since only quality makers can sustain expensive ad campaigns. The piece reassures readers that publishers and advertisers depend on public trust and therefore won't promote inferior goods. It concludes by urging readers to trust and regularly read advertisements as reliable guidance for purchasing decisions. **The satire**: This is likely Judge magazine gently mocking the advertising industry's self-justifying rhetoric — the irony being that an *advertisement for advertising* uses circular logic to convince readers that advertisements are trustworthy guides rather than persuasive manipulation.