Judge, 1928-06-02 · page 22 of 36
Judge — June 2, 1928 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks the trendy notion of mechanical servants in the 1920s-30s. Herbert is a robot butler—an "automaton" hired through an agency as a labor-saving device. The humor lies in his malfunction: when the narrator telephones home claiming to be "the master," Herbert's mechanical brain short-circuits into a repetitive loop, unable to deviate from his programmed response ("The master is out; will you leave your number?"). The satire targets both technological utopianism and employer attitudes toward servants. The narrator treats Herbert as subhuman initially, then grows oddly affectionate when he malfunctions, finding his "humanity" endearing only in his mechanical failure. The cartoons showing Herbert performing tasks absurdly emphasize that no machine—however clever—can truly replace intelligent human judgment or adapt to unexpected situations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LT want you to feel that you are more than a mere tomaton, Herbert,” I said, ou are a member of my household.” “Quite so, thank you, sir. Quite so, thank you, sir, Quite so, thank you, sir,” he repeated until [cleared my throat and produced the sound waves that automatically silenced him, We got alo fine until lest Tuesday, Soon after reaching my. offic led that [had ck the lar, in which some rare antiques are stored. It was one of the chores T had trained and adjusted Her bert to do. So [ telephoned to the house. I heard the click as the re ceiver was lifted an “The master is out; will leave your number? ‘The master is out; will you 1 3 ber? The master is .. ferbert.” To said, in the proper tone, “This is the master.” That’ phrase should have sil enced his | mechanical — vocal chords. Instead, [heard a peculiar buzzing and sputtering, then “The master is out; will you leav yar number? ‘The master is. . “Herbert!” [bellowed “Be yoursel “The master is out, will sou leave your number? The master...” “Herbert, old chap.” [ pleaded, “Migawd. do you feel another at- tack coming on?” The honest batter insists that that last one was a strike. Herbert Goes Haywire » to me with un- here isn’t a better m cal butler on the Herbert,” I was assured by the y. “Just plug him” into your light socket and Herbert will get busy T must admit that Herbert's buttling was satisfactory for the first few weeks. There were, of course, a few instances that might have brought rebukes from a more crit employer. Once Herbert developed a slight short- circuit in the right shoulder and spilled consomme down my neck. Another time I walked into the kitchen and found him trying to tickle the electric range under the But these things only con- vinced me that Herbert. w: - most human, and I lauded h | for them. The Stocking Manufacturers meet a long-felt want. comicbooks.com