Judge — September 5, 1925 — page 6: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Sticker—A Go-Getter's Bedtime Tale with a Dark Ending" This comic presents a satirical "success story" in reverse. The upper panels show an ambitious man progressing through various modes of transportation and leisure—from surfing and boating to automobiles and airplanes—depicting the acquisitive dreams of an early 20th-century "go-getter" (ambitious businessman/entrepreneur). However, the bottom panels reveal the dark conclusion: the final three panels show the man repeatedly struck by a large hammer or mallet, presumably representing financial ruin or failure. The title's promise of a "bedtime tale with a dark ending" subverts the conventional rags-to-riches narrative, instead mocking the era's obsession with material accumulation and suggesting such ambitions inevitably lead to downfall. It's a cautionary satire about unchecked consumerism and greed.