Judge, 1927-11-26 · page 5 of 36
Judge — November 26, 1927 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Composite Saint" & "Good Old" This page satirizes Santa Claus through two pieces: **"The Composite Saint"** (top) depicts Santa as a morally compromised figure—combining opinions of family members who describe him as resembling a "traffic cop, bootlegger, peddler and ward heeler" (a political operative). The illustration shows him distributing gifts from rooftops to crowds below. The satire critiques Santa as embodying corruption, fraud, and commercialism rather than genuine generosity. **"Good Old"** (bottom) portrays Santa as a sentimental con artist who manipulates families with charm ("twinkling eyes," "cherry-like nose") while extracting money. The caption "You can't fool us. You're Lon Chaney" suggests Santa as a theatrical imposter (referencing silent-film actor Lon Chaney's transformative roles). Both pieces mock the commercialization of Christmas and Santa's questionable moral character.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Composite Saint (Combining the opinions of Little Sister, Little Brother, Big Sister, Big Brother, Mother and Father.) Santa Claus is a jolly little fat man who resembles a traffic cop, a bootlegger, peddler and ward heeler. He has kindly twinkling eyes which remind one of college deans, radio installment collec- tors and pickpockets. He loves everybody, is good on promises and poor on delivery, and he is very generous with other people’s money. He is the world’s greatest good fellow, flat tire, blank, nuisance and damned old fraud. He should come every day in the year and there ought to be a law against him. —G. C. Expediting matters for a very busy gentleman Good Old — He had come! The cruel gibes of my friends and relatives were forgotten as I peered into his rosy face. He deposited his burden on the floor, shook the snowflakes from his coat of fur and one twinkling eye disap- peared from view in a prodigious wink. I withdrew my right hand from my pocket and thrust it into his. Glancing at the crisp bank- note, he winked again, placed a chubby finger beside his cherry- like nose, wagged his head comi- cally and disappeared with a cheery “good night.” A merry fellow, that boot- legger of mine. =RALD CosGROVE “You can’t fool us. You're Lon Chaney.” comicbooks.com