Judge, 1925-04-11 · page 21 of 36
Judge — April 11, 1925 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine page satirizes fraudulent patent medicine advertising through fake testimonials. The cartoons show the consequences of claiming false cures: crowds of desperate people mobbing someone who "just got IT" (presumably cured), then demanding he "say something funny" as a professional humorist, and finally swarming around him planning to "buy a new car"—implying they expect miraculous enrichment. The mock testimonials below parody the era's ubiquitous medical ads with absurd, contradictory claims: a dandruff cure that somehow affects sleep patterns; a baby food that kills flies; a hiccough remedy named "Squirm's Mange Cure." One testimonial humorously claims the product worked so well the user stopped noticing it helped. The headline's point: certain products—likely quack medicines and dubious cures—shouldn't be advertised because the false promises create impossible expectations and angry customers. This reflects Progressive Era consumer skepticism toward unregulated patent medicines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ren’s bout ends yr of | ncles lever Titer ney uyer » As- more with Hen- uring | with | Hot *rson n to use. How ising | nn | how ds ae That you are Unpublished Testimonials Pisrson’s Pepsin Pepper Pills.— For an awful long time I suffered so from galloping dandruff that I couldn't lie on my right side at night. Being a stock broker, I often had to rise at 6 a.s., and on some mornings I'd be so sleepy I would rather have stayed in bed another hour. I tried mustard plasters, banana oil, ocean voyages and paper bags, but got no relief. Finally, I bought a box of Parson’s Pepsin Pepper Pills and was greatly relieved—to find the directions were printed only in Eng- lish instead of in eight different foreign languages, including the Scandinavian and profane. Badson's Baby Food.—Our young- est infant was wont to be molested by house flies during the summer, even though we lived in a bungalow. Finally, we put some of Badson’s That you have a new case of Scotel GE se) ») 02 Prerss Bu FS Buick Pedy Lineelwe Podard a ease Say yee: fumny" cw are a Ns Overt ee professional humorist 556% Ou uawg Ford ome, pus Three things it does not pay to advertise. Baby Food in his bottle and inside of a half hour all the flies were dead. Hoping you are the same, etc., A Tuanxkiess Motner Squirm's Mange Cure for Hic- coughs—Used to have ‘em. Now I ain't got ‘em. It's your fault. Respectfully, Evore Kation Dr. Jeckyl’s Mysterious Mosquito Remedy.—Every summer we used to go to Florida for a vacation. We didn't mind the elephants and bears so much, but the mosquitoes got so thick they scraped the sides of the door when they came Finally we tried some of Dr. Jeckyl's Mysterious Mosquito Remedy and it worked fine. One of us would hold a mosquito down while the other rubbed it with your remedy, and by morning we'd all be so tired we didn't care whether the mosquitoes liked it or not. Olsen's Oily Ointment,—Truck he no ringa da bell. Tony no heara da wheese. Doc he say Tony gotta da leg bust. Tony getta da_ pills. Maybe six months Tony all right again. Much obliged. Gottenberger's Dental Massage Clay. —lI am glad to say that I suffered for ten years from severe undulations in the western hemisphere. Thanks to my timely use of Gottenberger's Dental Massage Clay, I don’t notice them any more—I have other things to worry about now. I might recommend this clay to anyone suffering from sore throat, nearsightedness, chilblains, financial difficulties, fractured limbs, catarrh, lumbago, ennui or crossword puzzles. And then again, I might not. P.S.—I like the one with the hat off best, but you can use your judgment or else use both. | Richard S. Wallace |