Judge, 1923-10-20 · page 5 of 36
Judge — October 20, 1923 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis The cartoon illustrates "Pestilent Perfection" by John W. Kraft, a satirical piece about an insufferable office worker. The drawing shows three women in what appears to be an office setting, with one seated figure being the subject of the narrative. The satire targets a particular type of male colleague—described as "efficiently disgusting" and popular as a "revenge agent at a bridge." He's characterized as physically perfect (strong teeth, efficient nose and hair count) but professionally insufferable. His main flaw: he's an overly efficient office worker who uses impressive vocabulary unnecessarily and maintains excessive productivity. The complaint culminates in his demanding a salary increase after working long hours—the final aggravation that prompted his dismissal. The joke satirizes how technical competence and physical perfection don't excuse workplace arrogance and unreasonable demands.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Y. Drawn by GILBERT WILKINSON, Vial |i Ii Shopper—It’s really rather more than I ever intended to pay, so you better charge it on my account! Pestilent Perfection by John W. Krafft Some ates are so efficient they're posi ti disgusting. There is one of that variety in our office, and he’s just about as popt HV at a bootleggers’ pic periorit ances in my yyself breaking out in a cold sweat of inferior complex. He's at least 99 44/100 per cent. perfect. He’s a big brute—one of those master- pieces of Nature, God's noblemen, and all that sort of thing. He hasn’t much chin to speak of, but he has a beautiful set of big, white efficient teeth, to say nothing of a habit of working the muscles of his jaws when thinking. His nose is ind thoroughly efficient. He has the proper number of hairs on his forearms to put him in the so-called he- man class. When he gets through broadcasting to the stenographer in his bold, efficient way, the poor girl is all gummed up, and begi to sneak out of the room every little bit to ask questions of the rest of the office help who know a little more than she does and a lot less than he does. He uses wonderfully efficient’ words—never can be found in the ninety-eight cent dic- tionary, the “World Alm: * “Bulling- ers Railway Guide” or any other book in our utterly non-efficient office reference library. He writes those powerful, compelling letters. My stuff is about as rhetorical as a window card in an east side fish store. He has a tremendous fund of general in- formation. T have been accused of think- ing that Marshall Field is a place where 3 football is played. like a Chester He is muset cal job. He college degrees, some business cour: success lectures stowed under his int 3 tual belt. I was thrown out of the fifth r of grammar school on my mental n He spends hours and hours in the company of fine, clean-cut, upstanding men—says so himself—while I usually can be found of an evening wasting my time with the boys in the back room. The big, efficient bum! My fingers fairly ache to entwine themselves around his efficient Adam’s apple, there to pull and jerk and squeeze and tear limb from limb. Sartorially, he looks He made me particularly angry this morning. He alary. asked me to increase his comicbooks.com