Judge, 1925-05-02 · page 24 of 36
Judge — May 2, 1925 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines advertising with a humorous essay. The **Mollé shaving cream ad** (left) uses standard early 20th-century marketing—promising smooth shaving without aftereffects like irritation or talcum powder residue. The main content is a comedic essay titled "Little Lectures: From Bad to Worse," narrated as a traveler's misadventure. The author describes a journey plagued by escalating disasters—a horse fails, forcing an overnight stay; switching to an automobile causes brake failure and a dangerous skid. The humor is deadpan and absurdist: the narrator mentions taking photographs of himself sliding downhill but notes he "never could get far enough away from myself" to succeed. The illustration shows a period dinner scene with the caption quoting a London Mail exchange: one character asks if another's husband drinks; the response "I should hope so, poor fellow" implies drinking is preferable to the husband's actual character—mild social satire on unhappy marriages. The essay's self-aware digressions and footnotes (addressing a "Mr. Bohemoth" in the audience) mock conventional lecture formats while celebrating failure and absurdity as entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Generous Trial Tube Free Name Address Mail 10 Pryde Wynn Co., New Brighton, Pa. “Her husband drinks, doesn’t he?” “T should hope so, poor fellow.” —London Mail Little Lectures From Bad to Worse—or Floundering Through Trouble With Aid and Abetment AS nicnt began to fall I spurred my steed Nemesis on to a faster gait, hoping to reach adversity be- fore nightfall, but no such luck. My good fortune gave out, forcing me to spend the remainder of that day at Sooris, Tt was such little incidents as this which made my journey from bad to worse one never ending chain of trouble, (In this slide, if the opera- tor will be so kind as to wake up and let me have it—thank you—you will see the beautiful damosels of Kismet weaving chains of ill-luck, trouble and circumstances, which grow in pro- fusion in that country, and are used in the May (or may not) festival.) Having changed to automobile for the rest of the journey, feeling that it was more adaptable to the type of country through which I was travel- ing, I hoped to make better time in my jump from frying pan to fire, but the machine developed bad breaks, causing me to skid down hill rapidly. (Unfortunately, I was un- able to get any pictures of myself while sliding, due to the fact that I never could get far enough away from myself to permit of successful photog- raphy, but feeling that I should show some slide here in order not to break up the continuity of the lecture I take great pleasure in pointing out to you, Mr. Jeremiah Z. Bohemoth, first volunteer fireman of Jaspar County “and later postmaster of Newlands, Ind. Mr. Bohemoth was just 108 years old when this picture was taken and says that he owes his longevity to just sticking to it.) You may be surprised to hear that 22 comicbooks.com