Judge, 1924-06-28 · page 13 of 37
Judge — June 28, 1924 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Explanation for Modern Readers This satirical interview mocks **John S. Sumner**, head of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice—a real historical organization that aggressively censored books and materials deemed immoral. The cartoon depicts Sumner as an absurdly prudish censor obsessed with policing minor infractions while missing serious problems. His complaints are ridiculous: a soap that's only 99.4% pure, stripped gears (implying nudity), and "Mother Goose" as birth-control propaganda because Margaret Sanger published it anonymously. The satire targets Sumner's overwrought moral crusades against literature (he genuinely opposed books like "A Lost Lady"). His proposed laws—requiring horses wear overcoats, mandating three-piece bathing suits with overjackets—escalate the absurdity to expose how excessive his real censorship efforts were. The opening cartoon shows a family vehicle labeled with the period car registration "1872," suggesting society's outdated attitudes. The joke: Sumner represents archaic, ridiculous moralism dressed as civic duty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
No place like home! IMAGINARY INTERVIEWS A Chat with Mr. John S. Sumner * said Mr. er entered “One of the department stores has just advertised a sale of Undressed Kids and I have to rush up there and stop it.” “Your job must keep you pretty busy.” said the interviewer politely. . Hts is my busy « Sumner as the intervie his office, said Mr. Sumner, “Tf it isn’t one thing it’s another. Con- stant vigilance is the secret of my success. Only yesterday I learned to my horror that the soap I've been using for years is only 99 410 per cent. pure The interviewer shuddered sympathet- ically. You've no id Mr. tinued, “as T was driving my car, which needless to say is a completely enclosed right at Forty-second. street and Fifth avenue, with thousands of women and young children looking on, I stripped my gears. Can you imagine my humili- ation? “And yesterday,” Sumner con- “It’s awful,” the interviewer agreed. how you find time for all your activities.” “I don’t, I don't see said Mr. Sumner. “You see, T have to do a lot of reading also. I discovered an awful book ‘Mother Goose’ by Marga Targaret Sanger?” . She published it anonymously but I can tell it’s hers because of the birth control propaganda. Take the pi about ‘the old woman who had so many children because she didn’t know what to do.” Can you imagine the effect that upon a young and immature mind? The interviewer tried to imagine it. “Then there is a book called ‘A Lost Lady." Mr. went on, “TI didn’t read it, but the title is enough to what kind of book it is. There toward fanity in book and play titles. ‘The Beautiful) and—er—Darned.’ for instance. Not to mention the play that won the Pulitzer Prize—Hades Bent for Heaven.’ * Mr. and the in unsuccessfully Sumner indica is a distressing tendency umner blushed a deep crimson, iewer blushed with him. “My legislative duties also take up a lot of my time,” said Mr. Sumner. “The laws that we have are inadequate, and 1 I'm preparing some bills to be introdu at the legislaty Ive drawn up a bill requiring all horses next session of the and dogs to wear overcoats when they appear in the streets. condition of —er the word At present. their nudity, if you'll pardou s most distressing.” “Tt never occurred to me,” said the interviewer. “Of course not. The publie has be- Then there is my bill » bathing suits. T have thousands of photogr: and [ have spent weeks at the come hardened against one-pi examined athing beaches making a thorough study subject. In my opinion, hades is 1 with one-pi My bill makes the three-piece bathing suit «© bathing suits. It consists of a—er—costume which shall be worn underneath, adjacent to the epidermis. A skirt reaching to the ankles is worn over that and a sedate overcoat: compk Tam also trying to draft a law providing for separate bathing beaches for the’ (Mr. Sumner blushed modestly) the costume. “sexes. comicbooks.com