Judge, 1925-12-19 · page 15 of 39
Judge — December 19, 1925 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge satire mocks the era's obsession with contests and prizes. Each panel ridicules a different "winner": **Adolphus K. Gleek** manufactures children's jokes ("Kute Kracks"), satirizing mass-produced entertainment and his wife's unacknowledged contribution to his success. **"Flops" Brookles** won a "Marital Marathon"—a thinly-veiled jab at the era's sensationalized endurance contests and frivolous celebrity culture around marriage. **J. Anonymous Jones** won a national anthem contest by randomly mixing the Constitution, Darwin, and cocktails, mocking both artistic judging and pretentious nationalism. **"Mr. America"** is the key target: a consistent "Boob Prize winner" (1900-1926) who profited from financial scams, the KKK, Fundamentalism, and Florida real estate fraud. The satire condemns how American society rewarded charlatans and con artists during the 1920s. The overall point: American culture celebrates the wrong people—hucksters, frauds, and mediocrity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Above: Adolphus K. Gleek, un- equaled Kute Kracks from the Kiddies producer, in the midst of his factory— which he contemplates expanding once more in the spring. Inset: Mrs. Gleek, tg whom quite a bit of Mr. Gleek’s 4 ger he modestly admits, is due, Right: Miss “Flops” Brookles (for- merly Mrs. “Flops” Brookles Smythe), winner of the hand-painted what not— coveted first prize in the recent Younger Sets Marital Marathon—which she won with a record of three months, to the day, Inset: Mrs, “Babe” Bip, who was disqualified for holding. Left: J. Anonymous Jones, victor in the big Bond-Salesmen’s contest for a new national anthem, to be entitled: “The Spirit of Present-day America; Dhons. for country and for Yale.” 4 Jones won by playing the preamble to the Constitution, Darwin's “Descent of Man,” @ siphon and three kighballs, backward and funnier. On the $100,000.13 thus earned (the 18¢. is to cover cost of mailing), Mr. Jones plans to see Naple’s and temain. Right: Mr. America, consistent Boob Prize winner, 1900-1926. With 10 kinds of pro- intioe put over on ey kinds of cen- sorsl income _tax licity, permanent coins woser! the Ku Kluz, Fundamentalism, Oil Grabs, Florida real estate and Service— Mr. serra harod that his title is un- questionable. And we heartily agree. 1 Winner WHO’S WHO AMONG THE PRIZE WINNE Above: Mrs. Algernon Plipp-Plopp, big catch-as-catch-can winner of “the year, with three Miss America prizes; one gum~restling, one coast-to-coast hat-carrying, and four home-grown pumpkin prizes to her credit. Mrs. Plipp-Pl is now entered for the short-haired Pekinese contest. “I am just a plain home body,” confesses Mrs. P.-P. shyly, summing it all up, “and am happiest there, with my kiddies and grand-kiddies and great-grand- kiddies clustered about my knee.” comicbooks.com