Judge, 1927-08-06 · page 16 of 36
Judge — August 6, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine article satirizes the failure of Prohibition through an investigation of Pittsburgh's government-operated "speak-easies" (illegal bars). The satire's core joke: the federal government supposedly runs secret bars ostensibly to combat bootlegging, but actually operates them *for* both the public and bootleggers. The guide "George" explains the absurd logic: Prohibition agents must drink elsewhere to avoid angering bootleggers and "ruining the plan." This exposes Prohibition's fundamental hypocrisy—rather than enforcing the law, government allegedly participates in illegal liquor sales. The accompanying cartoon shows a man chasing someone over a fence while a woman watches, with "Belladonna" promising to be his friend "if you are going to get into low shooting scrapes—doubtless over a woman." This contrasts personal violence with institutional corruption. The page mocks Prohibition's implementation as corrupt theater, not genuine reform.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE IS PROHIBITION WORKING? Scratch Pads of Famous Men NAPOLEON A Nation-Wide Investigation Conducted by JUDGE L NEA } TRY AN Hi Pa ap Boe UNCLE SAM | [ State 6% LIQUOR Bi orake ed IT'S PURE | | merge moscow! © “MEMO coos Mos IMPORTANT ~ ma third A government operated speak-easy in Pittsburgh, Pa. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. By this time we had come to a Editor, place that said: JupGe, Avcust SpeciperG, Brtuiarps New York City. Ladies and Gents When we arrived at the Penn- “This is the place,” Georg: sylvan ation this morning, we Said. He whispered to us to let looked for a guide and right away him do the buying first, because prtoce discovered a fellow named George (Continued on pege 30) wk MY Pruemond. who in uniform. We told him we were investigators and that we wanted to investigate Pittsburgh, so he said fine and invited us to investigate his shoe shine parlor. However, we explained that we were interested in Pro! on and that we especially -d to in- vestigate Mr. Mullon’s tem of government operated Under-cover Speakeasies, we supposed it would be working great in the Sec. of the Inferior’s home town. Well, we were not disappointed. George said he knew where there was one just half a block from the station, and so we walked over with him. On the way he *xplained that we must be very careful and not let on that we w investigators. “You see,” George said, “the government operates these speakeasies for the public and the bootleggers. If Prohibition agents start drinking in them, that would make the bootleggers mad, and that would ruin the plan, whatever it is. Betiaponna—Listen, Felix, if you are going to get into low the agents have to drink s shooting scrapes—doubtless over a woman—you can count me where else, 5 out asa friend! comicbooks.com