Judge, 1926-04-17 · page 16 of 36
Judge — April 17, 1926 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous story satirizes pretentious affectation in the arts. The narrator encounters a man who treats soup-eating as a refined musical performance, complete with dramatic sound effects ("heart-rending gargles"). The joke mocks both the soup-eater's absurd snobbery and the narrator's gullible admiration—he immediately enrolls as a student and trades his saxophone for a soup tureen. The satire targets turn-of-the-century cultural pretension: the invention of fake "schools" (the "B-Flat Soup School"), the name-dropping of high art (Rachmaninoff), and the absurd notion that mundane activities can be elevated through affected sophistication. The accompanying cartoons—particularly "The Wrecking Contractor" (suggesting the right technique destroys anything)—reinforce the theme of empty performative art. The "Main Street, Ireland" section parodies ethnic business advertising, likely referencing the popular play "Abie's Irish Rose" and Jewish-Irish cultural mixing in urban America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Soupreme Artist I RAISED my head, Never before had I heard) soup caten so musically. It was a positive pleasure to listen. . T cried, when the gent ad finished his broth soupereening has been a opposite me soup singer glowed with pleasure. “Has it been that? The do you not perform yours “Didn't know there was such an art,” I. replied. drinking has alw: succession of heart-rending gargles “Dear, dear,” deplored the gentle- man, “you should take lessons, then. Tis simple as Tissue-on-the Comb!” “Why, I never knew one could take lessons!” why “My own soup- ys been a horrid “Dear, yes; all my orchestra are graduates of the B-Flat Soup School. You must come up some night. We perform at the Gorgonzola Hotel, fifty pieces—vermicelli, tomahto, gumbo, bass bouillon, oxtail, mut- ton broth, asparagus, printanier, mock-turtle, all—all the instruments, infact. I play the gumbo, a difficult but pleasing medium of expression. You really must come over! Maybe Burbank will develop the super-chorus girl. en , THE WRECKING CONTRACTOR If you sound the right note you can destroy anything. “TE certainly shall.” I agreed. “But before you go, will you kindly have a bowl of vegetable at- my pense, and give me Rachmaninoff’s Schertzo in G Minor Agreeably he did so: so agreeably, in fact, that immediately registered under him as a student, and later set aside my saxophone for the soup turcen, a substitution wildly ap- plauded by all my neighbors. Cyril B. Egan Main Street, Ireland (As it must seem to the hordes wh have witnessed “ Abie’s Irish Rose” OF Irish Stews a Specialty. Flanagan & Levy, The Finest Theological Seminary on the Emerald Isle. Our Rabbis and Priests Are in Big Demand. Mulligan, Finnegan & Horowitz, Cloaks and Suits and Bartendering. The Katherine & Rebecca Tea Room, Irish Ale and Tea mit Lemon a Specialty, f and Cabbage and oh mit Kugel Served at All Hours LAHERTY & RosENBERG, Cyrano Same Old Rolls All the Time We wouldn't mind how often our neighbors fed their player piano if they'd only change its diet once in a while. We'd Like to Try It What we'd like to know is where the people who live beyond their incomes get the money with which to live beyond their incomes. comicbooks.com