Judge — August 27, 1927 — page 19: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical cartoon sequence mocking how tourists experience history superficially. It traces human progress from Adam and Eve's invention of the automobile, through various eras, culminating in Balboa's "coast-to-coast affair." The joke satirizes how modern tourists—depicted driving through each historical period—reduce complex historical events to quick vehicle-based sightseeing. Each panel shows characters racing through history in cars: from Genesis to Gothic architecture to what appears to be a train era ("Hey! Gotta hippus!") to a covered wagon journey to mountains, and finally Balboa's expedition reimagined as automotive tourism. The satire targets the shallow, rushed consumption of history by 1920s-30s automobile tourists who treat major historical developments as mere backdrop for their road trips. It's both mocking tourists' superficiality and celebrating—ironically—the car culture that enables this "swift" passage through history.