Judge, 1927-08-13 · page 16 of 36
Judge — August 13, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1930 Judge magazine page satirizes workplace nostalgia and productivity loss through three cartoons: **"Farewell to the Water Cooler"**: The main piece humorously laments replacing an old office water cooler with a modern sanitary dispenser. The joke: the water cooler wasn't primarily about hydration—it was the office's unofficial social hub where workers "killed time" chatting, swapping stories, and avoiding work. One clerk claims he killed eleven hours there in summer 1926 alone. The satire mocks both sentimental attachment to outdated workplace fixtures and the reality that office efficiency depends partly on workers' ability to procrastinate socially. **"Uncrowded Occupations"**: A lighthearted sketch showing people relaxing in hammocks—implying "hammock testing" as a desirable, leisurely summer job. **"Homeopathic"**: A brief joke: a man cured himself of arguing with his wife by arguing with his wife—satirizing the contradictory logic of "fighting fire with fire." The page reflects 1930s workplace culture and humor about time-wasting office socializing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
They're taking it away to-day that old water cooler by the TAL © AEX /* —\ 1 MEr filing cabinets—and in its place a \ Farewell to the Water Cooler ERO we're getting a modern, sanitary gusher with white tile. But the office will never be the same with- out it. Pardon me if I shed a sentimental and reminiscent tear at its passing... . I’m all right now, thanks. Oh, where will we now kill time? Gone are the happy days loitering about the . water cooler’s gleaming liquid, swapping stories and drinking wholly unne ry paper cups of its pure beverage. Modern and germless though the gusher be, it can never hope to capture the spirit and soul of its predecessor. For the water cooler was our club, our gathering place. It was more than just a place to kill zh that, was, after‘all, its primary function. Around it we swapped storics of last eve- i we compared week- nees, we discussed the latest whim of the-boss. A good clerk could manage to kill at least an hour a y there —in ten minute sessions, of course—and I remember with pride the summer of 1926 when things here were dull and I killed a total of eleven hours there one six day weel:. Go, old water cooler, to your 1 friends, will e our love and and though we drink Uncrowpep Occupations deeply from the new white tile Hammock testers for the summer trade. gusher, we shall be thinking of } you. Your going, alas, marks a new régime, and the problem of how to kill time without you is awe-inspiring. Who knows, may we shall never solve it?) M we shall have to work all day now without manifesting that tremendous thirst that you knew so well . . . ah, sad times are coming. Farewell, old friend, farewell. Homeopathic What cured him of arguing ° é with his wife?” Effect of the starter’s pistol on the sprinters at the Taxi Drivers’ a sith his wife.” Picnic. Arguing with his wife. comicbooks.com