Judge, 1923-10-06 · page 7 of 36
Judge — October 6, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Arch-Ducal Archways" Analysis This 1920s satire by James Montgomery Flagg mocks a housing scheme promising free luxury apartments. Two portly, mustachioed landlords (Messrs. MacLevy and O'Ginsberg—likely Jewish surnames, reflecting period stereotyping) pitch an implausibly lavish building with private elevators, swimming pools, orchestras, and hospitals—all supposedly free. The joke's payoff: residents pay nothing in rent or assessments, but must purchase their alcohol exclusively from the landlords. This satirizes Prohibition-era bootlegging schemes where speakeasy operators or liquor suppliers leveraged housing access to monopolize alcohol sales. The "philanthropists" claim they "must also live and pay our bills"—meaning through forced liquor purchases. The cartoon critiques both the housing crisis afflicting working-class families and opportunistic exploitation by those claiming to solve it through seemingly generous but actually predatory schemes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Je tH ICT | THE ARCH-DUCAL ARCHWAYS by James Montgomery Flagg o! Ye wanpenens of the asphalt! H Ye seckers for the ur rable! Be of good cheer! No. longer need you crowd in at Aunt Hattie’s in Mount Vernon because you can find no haven within your means for yourself and the harassed wife of your pleated bosom and the little not to say tiny tots! Il back Sigrid, the wild Seandi- ; food spoiler from the bosky dels of Union Hill where she is waiting expec- tantly, eagerly, for the signal to return. Maybe. Brush Aunt Hattie’s mustache aside and kiss her a grateful farewell. You can’ ew once more take your dear ones toa home! A home of your own! Messrs. MacLevy and O’Ginsberg are the landlords. But only _ technically. They are benefactors of) the heckled! ‘ ors of the gouged! Samaritans of the homeless! Out of the fullness of their great hearts they have dedicated the arch-ducal archways to the roofless! Wwe that cynical smile from your i ace! Come telly poor tired f; your needs to MacLevy and O'Ginsberg. They will succor, ! Their genius has evolved an epochal metamorphosis of the housing problem! No more rent! Do you understand— you grasp that glorious idea? No thou- sands down! No assessments! No rent! Not one dollar of your money is asked of you! Yet) vou own your own apart- ment! In the most gorgeous and hixuri- ous apartment building in’ the city. Tut! In the world. Private clevators to apartment bring your car to your private . A room with every two baths. Tennis and squash courts. Mag- nificent restaurant and symphony or- chestra of eighty pieces. Theater seating 2,000 persons in which all of Broadway's latest. successes will be seen. Black marble and gold swimming pool, 100 by 150 feet! Service to rooms night and Corps of surgeons and trained nurses and fully equipped hospital on the top floor. And of course a splendid | room) with unrivaled orchestra! And for all this there is absolutely no charge whatsoever. And of course you say, cow’s sweetheart!” . brother, it is tru Wall, how come? Say you. Lissen! Say Messrs. MacLevy and O'Ginsberg. It is perfectly true we are philan- thropists. But we are not crazy! Nuh! We must also live and pay our bills. All we ask—we cannot legally demand it, but we trust your word—is that you will buy your hootch from us! “This is the comicbooks.com