Judge, 1924-05-03 · page 19 of 36
Judge — May 3, 1924 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Letter Cartoon**: This satirizes small-town commercialism and progress. A father writes his long-absent son about how their town "Mottville" has been transformed—historic landmarks (Judge Van Horn's mansion, the old church) demolished and replaced entirely by gas stations and filling stations. The satire targets the era's uncritical embrace of commercial development: the father boasts that the town now has "better than six gas stations per block," treating this as genuine achievement. The joke is that what he considers progress—replacing civic and historical buildings with fuel stations—actually represents cultural loss and the homogenization of American towns during the 1920s industrial boom. **Lower Cartoons**: - An actress and man discuss a jewel theft; he warns shooting will harm her "press agent"—satirizing Hollywood's obsession with publicity over substance. - A two-panel joke about someone pitching a "musical comedy" based on a simple joke, mocking show-business pretension and the era's formulaic entertainment production.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lerrer From ax Agen Parent ‘To His Loxg-Losy Sox Mottyille, May 3, 1924, Dian Son: Your recent communication, whieh was the first word your mother and 1 had received from you since you left us ¥ Years ago, was quite a surprise. dy Twill say that the town vou knew so well has changed a great deal. Workmen have just finished wrecking Judge Van Horn’s old mansion at West and Wheeler streets and Simpco Gas will he on sale there by summe business college, whe ured what little education vou had when last T saw you, has been replaced by a four-pump filling station with courteous attendants and all-night: serviec. After the pre- Adamite church was closed, its site rexcellent place for distributi » Which they say doubles the life of your gears. Officials of the post office and the bank are still holding out for a higher price before they sell out and move over on the In » The city expects to close i ant deal with the Ant- arctic Oil Company for the site on whieh the monument now stands, as soon as the three surviving veterans of the war pass out. When this bargain is made, Mottyille will average better than. six gas stations per block, whieh, if IT do say iL myself, is pretty, good progress for such a small town, Thaven't time for more now. If you Actress (waking)—Drop those jewels or I'll shoot! Write us again you'd better put “Please “You'll spoil a perfectly good press agent if you do, old girl.” Forward” on the letter because your mother and Pwill be touring from June to November, Your Affectionate Father, (Signed) dons First Loyr 1 dreaming of my first love Through the night and through the day, Vor the lass who was my first lore In an unforgotten May. Tam longing for my first love With the madnes. desire, And the soul of me ix burning With a breath of flaming fire. Lam yearning for my first lor She's one lass U'd love tu see, For she had all that I possessed, When she got through with me! E. DOK “T'll give you three dollars for this joke.” “I was thinking of writing a musical comedy around it.” comicbooks.com