Judge, 1926-12-04 · page 9 of 36
Judge — December 4, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Satire Analysis This page satirizes the early 20th-century "efficiency movement"—a business-management craze that applied industrial optimization principles to all aspects of life. The main cartoon mocks this by proposing bureaucratic forms and endorsements to vet children's worthiness for Santa gifts, requiring parental certification, heavenly records verification, and notary signatures. The joke targets how efficiency obsession had invaded even sacred traditions like Christmas gift-giving. Instead of simple childish letters to Santa, children now need formal "Petition Number 678,897" with multiple endorsements—a absurd parody of corporate red tape. The smaller "Apartment House Life" and "No Mistake" comics appear to be filler humor unrelated to the main satire. The page dates to 1926, when such efficiency-movement critiques were topical commentary on American culture's rationalization fetish.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Putting Santa On An Efficiency Basis N= form designed by the presi- dent of the International Effi- ciency Forum to facilitate the work of Santa Claus this year. Petition Number 678,897 For children from 3 to 10 years of age. Name of Child Age of Child. Residence........ Has House a Chimr waiter? Child wash neck and ears ild do home work every To Santa Claus: I hereby de- clare that I have been a very good boy, a good boy, a pretty good boy’ this year and desire the following gifts: baseball bat building blocks } \ roller skates electric trains E boxing gloves air rifle radio set : new bicycle , 4S : APARTMENT HOUSE LIFE Under the mistletoe—and over it. 1st Endorsement: I hereby certify that my son ..... : good boy and is . has been a ntitled to the above. - Father 2d Endorsement: suena has been a really good boy who has al- s obeyed me and deserves the above gifts. Mother 3d Endorsement: From—Keeper of the Heavenly Records. To—Santa Claus: 1. The record of ............ i satisfactory. 2. His application is approved. 3. Deliver requested gifts. Keeper of Records Sworn to before me this ...... of December, 1926. Notary Public. Hugh Wood No Mistake Blink—Did the horse doctor find out what was the matter with your horse? Blank—Oh, “What was it? “Tt was dead.” , | comicbooks.com