Judge, 1924-03-15 · page 5 of 36
Judge — March 15, 1924 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Scene 2: Frank Tinney and Frank Tours This page satirizes Frank Tinney (a vaudeville comedian) and Frank Tours (orchestra leader). The dialogue reveals Tours helped Tinney get into show business despite resistance from Sam Harris, a theater producer who wouldn't hire Tinney when intoxicated. The humor centers on Tinney's drinking problem. Tours claims Tinney consumed two types of liquor costing $90 and $60 respectively before a visit, supposedly identical except for labels. The punchline mocks Tinney's excuse that he "forgot" which drink Irving wanted—implying his drunkenness made him unreliable. The cartoons illustrate this conversation. The satire targets Tinney's alcoholism as a professional liability, presenting it as both comedic material and a genuine obstacle to his theatrical career. This reflects 1920s attitudes toward substance abuse as both entertainment fodder and character flaw.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
sueeeertenenesniee server etre s=<: Tours, Orchestra Leader of the Music Box, How He Got in the Show »y—Hello, Frank. Hello, Frank. Tinney—Hello, Frank. Tours—Hello, Frank. Tinney—We ain't gettin’ nowheres now you call me Frank an’ I—a—a Til call you Buddy, see, ‘at's what Ul do alright, then we'll— Tours—I'm no Buddy. Tinney—We won't argue about that. ‘Tours—No? Tinney—Well here I am in the Music Bor. They had a hard time gettin’ me alright they did. Tours—I'll bet. Tinne y didn't need me the first year—they didn't. This bein’ a new theater people came outa curiosity see—the second year the guys what seen the theater tol’ their friends. The third year they couldn't do without me, they couldn't. “Daughter, is it true what folks hev been a-sayin’ ’bout you goin’ inta musical comedy?” “They lied, mother! I’m a shoplifter!” “Words and Music.” Scene 2. Frank Tinney Tells Frank iif Tours—No? Tinney—No, they couldn't Sam Harris, he come over to my office in front of the Times building, see, and he says to me—Frank, we need you Mr. Harris doesn’t like it when I drink, he doesn’t. He wouldn't engage me when I was in- toxicated, see—and he knew I wouldn't sign no contract with him when I was sober. So they took me over to Irving's house. Irving's a place. ? Tinney—Wine just flows like glue. Sam says to me—take one drink and come over at eight—and then he an’ Irving left. I forgot whether he says take one drink and come over at eight or take eight drinks and come over at one. But I give meself the benefit of the doubt. Tours—What did you drink? They was both the same, though— only the labels on the $90 kind was printed in two colors. Tours—What did you do after- wards? Tinney—Huh? Tours—I said what did you do afterwards? Tinney We went riding in Irv- ing’s machine—beautiful car Irv- ing has. Yea—they’ so many mortgages on it he calls it the cov- ered wagon! comicbooks.com