Judge, 1928-07-21 · page 36 of 36
Judge — July 21, 1928 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **Texaco gasoline advertisement**, not political satire. The cartoon depicts a traffic cop stopping a driver for speeding. The humor derives from the driver's earnest explanation: he's not actually speeding recklessly—he's simply unaccustomed to the superior acceleration of the "new and better Texaco" gasoline he just switched to. The "Custodian of the Law" (the cop) initially dismisses the excuse as a joke, but the ad then pivots to validate the claim seriously, listing genuine performance benefits: improved pick-up, better hill performance, and superior fuel economy due to better vaporization. This represents typical 1930s-40s advertising strategy: use humor and exaggeration to make a product claim memorable, then anchor it with technical explanation. The cartoon plays on the relatable frustration of uncontrolled acceleration while subtly positioning Texaco as the premium choice for performance-conscious drivers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4 asy on tat esa] “Yes, I know,” soothed the big, burly Cus- todian of the Law. “You washed it this morning. Did you ever hear the one about the two travel- ing salesmen?” “I beg your pardon, sir. I was not joking. I've just switched to the new and better Texaco and I'm not used to the pick-up yet; at the slightest touch on the accelerator my car now leaps ahead like a greyhound.” ’ ’ ’ But seriously, the new and better Texaco Gasoline does give improved performance. It is noticeably faster in pick-up. It does perform better on hills and THE TEXAS COMPANY. Texaco on the straight-away, too. In addition, it is more eco- nomical. And why not? The new and better Texaco vaporizes perfectly—forms a dry gas. And dry gas burns completely, giving up full power. Ordinary gasolines—but why mention them? The new and better Texaco Gasoline is sold every- where. Stop wherever you see pumps displaying the Texaco Red Star with the Green T. The NE Wond BETTER TEXACO GASOLINE Petroleum Products comicbooks.com