Judge, 1925-11-07 · page 17 of 36
Judge — November 7, 1925 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous comic strip about a naive American woman named Betty visiting Paris. The satire relies on ethnic and cultural stereotypes common to 1920s American humor: 1. **The wax figure mistake**: Betty confuses a wax mannequin for a French movie actress, suggesting American ignorance of Continental culture. 2. **The Exposition joke**: Betty expects "Decorative Art" to be an exhibit of cosmetics, mocking American women's perceived obsession with beauty products. 3. **The Moorish exhibit**: Betty expects to see mattresses, playing on the stereotype that Moorish/Middle Eastern cultures are associated with luxurious bedding and indolence. The strip's humor derives from portraying Betty as comically uninformed about art, culture, and world affairs—a common trope in Judge magazine satirizing American provincialism and consumerism during the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
in Paris Pedtiy Goes 4broadl } | % : .. ok i She takes a ride on a , Betty mistook | “ = French ‘merry-go-round, he wax mani- I kin for a movie actress. ; we Betty runs back to-Paris for the Exposition of Decorative Art. She thought it was to be an exhibit of cosmetics! Betty visits the Moorish exhibit. She expected to see a lot of mattresses. comicbooks.com