Judge, 1927-07-23 · page 10 of 36
Judge — July 23, 1927 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is a humorous short story with accompanying cartoons from *Judge* magazine. The top illustration shows an absurdly complex "Automatic cigar lighter"—a Rube Goldberg-style contraption of pulleys, weights, and mechanisms that satirizes overengineered gadgetry. The story, attributed to Gerald Cosgrove, presents a father's darkly comedic fantasy about disposing of his daughter's insufferable young guests through increasingly violent means—throwing children out windows, cutting ropes on dumbwaiters. The joke relies on the contrast between the narrator's polite facade ("with a coy smirk") and his murderous internal thoughts. The second cartoon illustrates "the national game" (baseball) being "sped up" with frantic activity, mocking Americans' obsession with efficiency and speed. The humor targets both overcomplication in modern life and the exasperation parents feel entertaining their children's pretentious, talented friends—a social satire that remains recognizable today, though the violent fantasy premise reflects era-specific sensibilities about acceptable comedic exaggeration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE smirk and a mock bow, “to enter- tain you.” Someone chortled. “Dees he really know anything? one youth a “Yes,” Merrill laughed, “he the radio— fetchingly!” I heard my daughter whispe ‘athah must have his ittenish grace I pushed over the piano and let it drop on Oscar. Then with oafish play- fulness I picked out Algernon’s chin with one clenched hand. My moment had come! Dropping the mask of the good-natured parent, I picked up Henry, who had re- cently developed his personality in two lessons, and slid him through a window. The melodious tinkle of broken glass as his hip pocket struck the sidewalk cast ] a spell over me. I found myself ! headed for the incinerator chute dragging my daughter, a dear little thing who had become so at | tached to her saxophone that she danlayman was too popular for words. Re- || turning to the scene of my tri- |} umph, I found that Wally and } Phil (experts in double meaning dialogue) had tried to elude me, but, although they were out of sight when I reached the dumb- waiter opening, I cut the rope just in time. Then I went back to my pipe and _ book. They Thought I Was Fooling I was smoking and trying to read. In the other room the young folks sat spellbound as Oscar talked. Suddenly I discovered to my horror that he had learned French in minutes that might not otherwise have been wasted, and was demonstrating his ability to order asparagus on toast. When the applause died down, Algernon took the floor. I knew that was coming, and before the crowd could sit fascinated by his quotations from a Scrap Book, I laid down my pipe and book and went in. I could not keep a twinkle out of my eye as I thought of the surprise I had in store for my daughter’s guests. “Permit me,” I said with a coy Automatic cigar lighter. —Geratp CusGrove Speeding up the national game—to fit the American temper for getting things done quickly. comicbooks.com