Judge, 1927-08-27 · page 5 of 36
Judge — August 27, 1927 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Perfect Trip" Analysis This cartoon satirizes an idealized American family road trip. The story describes a man whose vacation supposedly goes flawlessly—no lost luggage, no traffic, no arguing children, perfect weather, no breakdowns—concluding with him finding his razor and shaving soap exactly when needed. The illustration shows demons or devils tormenting a bald man, suggesting the *actual* reality behind such fantasies. The joke is the stark contrast between the narrator's absurdly perfect account and the visual depiction of vacation chaos and frustration. The postcard insert labeled "Chronic post-card writer" reinforces the theme: tourists exaggerate their experiences in correspondence home, claiming wonderful trips they probably didn't have. This mocks both vacation culture and human tendency to inflate pleasant narratives.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE A Perfect Trip Once upon a time a man started | out for the seashore in his touring } car with his wife and she was ready on time and Ethel left her toys and dolls at home and Freddy didn’t ask questions and point and | little Junior didn’t cry and fret and the baggage didn’t bump off | along the w. and the liquor didn’t break and run all over the | place and a cop asked the man for his license and he had it right handy in his coat pocket and the car didn’t run out of gas and oil during the trip and there were no detours and when the man asked the road to Seetoit and someone said turn to the right at the watering trough he found the watering trough and didn’t lose the way and the weather was per- fect and very little traffic and a lot of hikers didn’t ask the tour- ists for a lift and when the man heard a blowout it turned out to be another car and the tourists ' reached Seetoit in plenty of time to clean up and put the children to bed and have supper and when the man looked in his bag for his razor he found it and when he looked for his razor blades he found them and when he looked for his shaving brush he found it and when he looked for his shay ing soap he found it and now run to bed children and Uncle Hector will tell you another fairy story tomorrow night. —Jack Ciuerr Along the tourists’ route. The chronic post-card writer is still at it. Unquestioned Loyalty T am devotedly attached to my country. The knowledge that I am an American citizen, an in- tegral part of the richest and most powerful nation on the face of the earth, fills me with a com- placent satisfaction that even the possession of my first car could not equal. I am proud of my past record, its accom- plishments, its future glory. I never tire of extolling its virtues, and, were it necessary, I would hesitate not an instant in cheer fully laying down my life in its defense, for I love it with an in- ordinate fondness that naught may ever lessen, But, by golly, I do like to slip over to Canada occasionally. —Manion E, Burns comicbooks.com