Judge — June 11, 1927 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes Prohibition-era hypocrisy and social pretense. The top panel shows two women in a living room discussing "laughs from the shows"—one claims to be a dentist who's been "drilling all morning," while the other boasts about her mouth being "just like a parade ground." The crude innuendo suggests they're masking illicit behavior with polite conversation. The lower panels mock Prohibition enforcement. A man lying on a jail cot complains there's "not a drop of liquor in the whole place"—absurd given widespread bootlegging. Another scene shows immigrants or working-class figures with a sign reading "The Road to Rome," referencing both classical civilization and the Vatican, while discussing "making love" as "an old custom in our country"—satirizing how Americans justify or rationalize behavior as cultural tradition. The cartoons mock both Prohibition's failure and the pretentious social codes people maintained while flouting the law.