Judge, 1928-06-16 · page 35 of 36
Judge — June 16, 1928 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous puzzle page masquerading as satirical commentary. Judge presents an alleged "Egyptian charades tablet" and invites readers to guess a four-syllable word represented by the illustrated figures. The cartoon includes recognizable satirical jabs: a "D.A.R." (Daughters of the American Revolution) statue holding aloft a figure representing the Netherlands, likely mocking the D.A.R.'s cultural pretensions and possibly referencing Dutch-American literary figure Hendrik Van Loon. A penguin on a mushroom appears inexplicably, adding absurdist humor. The joke operates on multiple levels—the fake "ancient tablet" premise parodies pseudo-intellectual discourse, while the impossible puzzle and the magazine's deadpan offer to return money (knowing no one will solve it correctly) is self-aware humor about the magazine itself. The subscription rates listed suggest this was also promotional material.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-——————— Hand-Painted Charades And See How You Like Them HE figures on this i page were reproduced from an old Egyptian tablet of charades for little folks and grown-ups, and was recently turned over to the Smith & Wesson Insti- tute by a Dr. Wort, who in turn was turned over to the psychopathic ward of the city hospital. This quaint old relic of a bygone civilization rep- resents a four-syllable word, but so far the best brains in the country (advt.) have failed to reach a solution. A few symbols have been interpreted: the lovely statue representing the D. A. R. is holding aloft a symbolic figure of the Netherlands (probably a representation of the lit- erary merit of Hendrik Van Loon), and indubitably the figure on the extreme right is a penguin at rest on a mushroom. However, there has been no interpretation of this. The point is, you must buckle on your thinking cap and let us know just what you think the formation of turtles and the butterfly and all that really meant to those Messrs In rea Incidentally, you may send me Juno for 21 weeks 1 year JUDGE, 627 West 43rd St., N. Y. City d to the charade, I would say off-hand that the word represented is .......0eeeee+ 2 years..... ree eT rg ceusavat! $7.80 funny old Egyptians. Anyone guessing the four-syllable word will get any money back that might have been sent to defray the operating cost of the charade department of JUDGE. Anyone guessing the right word three times in succession will be given not more than five nor less than three turtles. at 2.00 --at 5.00 comicbooks.com