Judge, 1925-09-19 · page 11 of 36
Judge — September 19, 1925 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page **Top Cartoon ("Man in Background"):** Satirizes a real estate speculator who purchased municipal garbage collection rights and simultaneously produced four successful theatrical plays. The joke celebrates his entrepreneurial opportunism—profiting from both waste disposal and entertainment. **Main Comic Strip:** A slapstick telephone comedy mocking inefficient phone service. A man's house is burning, but the operator repeatedly mishears "fire department" as romantic references ("old flames," "dames," "yearning"). When he finally reaches someone, they direct him to consult a directory—which burned in the fire. The satire targets poor telephone infrastructure and operator competence during the early telephone era. **"Krazy Kracks":** Brief humorous quips. One jokes about married ministers' moral hypocrisy; another uses the word "cavort" in a sentence about desire, playing on the word's association with romantic misbehavior. The page reflects early 20th-century urban anxieties: unreliable utilities, bureaucratic incompetence, and social hypocrisy among respectable institutions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Man iw Bacxcrounp—There’s a smart chap. He bought the town garbage rights and has got four successful plays this season. “T want the fire department,” I yelled. “My house is a mass of flames!” “Old flames or new dames?” in- quired the voice with interest. “T didn’t say I was entertaining a mass of dames, I said my house is burning!” “For whom did you say you were yearning?” “T didn’t say my how I’m yearn- ing. I said my house is burning! I want the fire department!” “You just had the wire depart- ment,” sweetly. “No! No! I want the fire en- gines! You know dingalingaling! Noisy red wagons. Hurry, please! “Can’t connect you, sir, sorry. You've got to look the number up in the book.” : “The book burned up hours ago!” “One moment, please. I'll con- nect you with information.” “Never mind! Give me the con- tract department. I want to have a phone installed in a new house I expect to have built. I’d like to have service by the time we move in next Apr] or May.” Carroll KRALY 6R “give a sentence with the word i) Cavort™ “T vant a cavort A woman without principle usually draws considerable interest. FHS The newspapers tell us once in a while that some married ministers are evidently too good to be true. aa POPULAR SONG “Oh, how I miss you to-night!” comicbooks.com