Judge, 1925-05-23 · page 8 of 36
Judge — May 23, 1925 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Cartoon Analysis: Judge Magazine This page contains two satirical cartoons about American business culture and ambition. **Top cartoon**: Mr. Wem announces he's abandoning his family for summer, leaving them to "manage the job between" themselves. The joke mocks the casual abdonment of domestic responsibility by fathers prioritizing leisure. **Bottom cartoon ("The Infernal City")**: A Jinkstown Chamber of Commerce president is rejected from heaven for being "too bombastic and aggressive," then sent to Hell. Satan's office receives him, and the president immediately begins pitching Hell on *advertising and commercialization*—suggesting it needs a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, and promotional signs along the River Styx ("Lots of Heat and Light"). The satire targets aggressive American boosterism and Chamber of Commerce zealotry: the implication is that such relentless commercialism and self-promotion are so fundamentally corrupting that they belong in Hell itself. It's a critique of early 20th-century American business culture's values and methods.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
———— 7 Mr. Wera (dramatically to bis family)—I'm going away for the summer this year—and the rest of you can stay and see if you can manage the job between you! The Infernal City Mie president of the Chamber of Comm finished his’ first w “I'm really sorry,” 4 “but your week of probation is up and we don’t want you. You's too bombastic and by far too aggress- place.” “But, please,” started the im- mortal. “Let me—" In answer, Saint Peter slammed the golden es and in due time the president of the Jinkstown Chamber of Commerce sat in Satan's office. “Now, looka here, Mr. Satan,” he started, “you're neglecting the big- gest chance of your life. This place needs advertising. You need a Chamber of Commerce and a Rotary Club. Stick up signs along the River Styx reading ‘Lots of Heat and Light.’ We can put signs on all the roads and this place can be put on the map in a year or two, particu- larly if you can arrange a good mur- Macwate (sharply)—Sorry; I never do business over the "phone! der.” ive. You'll have to go to the other: comicbooks.com