Judge, 1926-11-06 · page 9 of 36
Judge — November 6, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Satire Analysis This page satirizes excessive regulation and puritanical social control in 1950s America. The cartoon imagines an absurdly over-regulated future where inanimate objects and minor infractions face legal punishment: a ship lies in jail, trees are fined for "exposing" their limbs, a balloon is jailed for staying up past 9:30 p.m., and prunes are prosecuted for being "stewed." The humor targets Progressive Era reformism—the impulse to legislate morality and control behavior through law. Items like penalizing a glass of water "for being drunk" and fining Columbus Circle "for not being square" use absurdist wordplay to mock the era's earnest social engineering. The "Motorist's Primer" supplements this by satirizing selective law enforcement: a female speeder avoids a ticket due to her "big brown eyes," mocking both gender bias and arbitrary police discretion. The top cartoon references the Roaring Twenties' culture wars, with figures suggesting jazz dancing and flapper culture amid moral panic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sentences To Be Imposed During an average month in the 100 per cent. pure days of 1950 AD. Novenper The S. S. Leviathan, i sixty days in jail for lying in the New York Harbor. Two maple trees, $100 fine for éxposing thier linibs on Mai street, Westville, Ia. A lamp, thirty: days: in jail for smoking on Sunday. The Whatnot Corporation, $1,000 fine for being in a bad hole financially. One wall, $200 fine for being plas- tered. The Hootsville ordered to Daily Bugle, cease publication for stealing a march. One revolving door, padlocked for going around with the wrong sort of people. Seven prunes, $200 fine for being discovered stewed in a Twenty- seventh street boarding house, New York. A sign painter, $150 fine for making bad_ signs. One balloon, deflated by court order for staying up after 9.30 p.m. The tennis life from pla, for raising a racket. -hampion, debarred for ig in the United States, JUDGE “Well—they can’t say I’m suggestive!” Motorist’s Primer THE MOTOR COP Is the motor cop angry with the speed. maniac? Oh, yes. He i: with her because she drove sixty- being very s two miles an hour. Why doesn’t the motor cop hand her a ticket? The motor cop doesn't hand her a ticket because she has such big brown eyes. One electric sign, ordered taken down for going out by itself after 7 PM. The Kurtzpantz Clothing Com- pany, Inc. bad week. One carpenter. thirty days in jail for breaking a rule. ,000 fine for having a One pair of overshoes, ordered destroyed for having a dirty look. A glass of water, $500 fine for being drunk. Columbus Circle, $1,000. fine for not being square. \ high price, ordered cut down for having no visible means of support. One witness, $500 fine for swearing in court. Two turkeys, $1.000 fine for hang- ing undressed in a butcher's window. Broadway, ninety days in jail for crossing after Forty-second street the policeman blew his whistle. The Buller Construction & Re- building Company, $5,000 fine for raising the roof. One man, $300 fine for concealing arms in his coat sleeves. A horse, $100 fine for breaking intoarun. Everybody, imprisonment for life for contempt of court. Wayne G. Haisley comicbooks.com