Judge — October 22, 1927 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Algonquin, By One Who Has Heard All About It" This cartoon satirizes the famous Algonquin Round Table, the New York wit's salon where intellectuals and entertainers gathered daily. The cartoonist mockingly depicts these celebrated figures as pretentious name-droppers, each invoking famous historical or contemporary figures—Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Cleopatra, Lindbergh—to seem clever or important. The joke targets the Algonquin's reputation for rapid-fire, competitive wit and their tendency to casually reference illustrious names. Labels like "Scipio Africanus," "Oliver Cromwell," and "Hannibal" attached to various attendees suggest they're comparing themselves (or being compared) to great historical figures, which the cartoonist presents as absurdly pretentious. The title—"by one who has heard all about it"—adds ironic distance, implying the cartoonist is mocking secondhand gossip about this exclusive, elite group's self-importance.