Judge, 1928-12-15 · page 22 of 36
Judge — December 15, 1928 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical dialogue between two businessmen—Sales Manager Murray and President J.P.—debating what Christmas gift to send their company's clients. The humor lies in watching the gift shrink from eight thousand silver pencils ($8,000) down to printed cards for fifty customers ($7.50), as J.P. repeatedly cuts costs while rhetorically invoking sentimental Christmas values like "peace on earth" and "good will to man." The satire mocks corporate hypocrisy: executives talk about remembering friends and forgetting dollars during the holidays, yet obsessively pare down spending. The accompanying cartoon shows a car salesman demonstrating a vehicle with aggressive salesmanship, reinforcing the cynical view that "the trade" (salesmen/business) operates on manipulation rather than genuine sentiment. The final caption—"Never look ye Gift Shoppe in ye face"—puns on "never look a gift horse in the mouth," suggesting that corporate gifts are inherently deceptive tokens masking profit-focused motivations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
= Something for the Trade “Christmas soon,” said Michael (Sales Manager) Murray to old “J.P.” (Presider t latter's — ms “Peace on earth, a all that sort of thing, you kno “Glad you remembered,” said J.P. “'Spose we better send something out to the trade?” “Good idea,” d Murray. “Silver pencil?” mused J. P. “A little high,” answered Mur- ray. “You know, we got eight thousand active accounts. Ei thousand silver pencils at one dol- | lar—" “Out of the question,” snorted J. P. “How ‘bout card-case? Nice little token. Lots of them used. Look at salesmen coming here every day. Make our trade grateful. Help our business.” Cost at least fifty cents each,” said Murr: “That's four thou- sand dollar: So it is,” commented J. P. ‘aint worth it. Nope. But gotta do something for the le. Yule season. Can't forget cus- tomers.” “Engraved card might do,” Murray. “Cost a quarter Put nice sentiment on JU DGE Driving a Bargain them, too. Total cost two thou- sand dollars, new accounts, Might land some “Can't we cut down list to about Habit tells. Department store elevator operator falling out of window. wy ee one thousand?” asked J. Py “Send cards to only one thou- sand,” “Still cost two hundred and fifty dollars,” said Murray. “Get cards printed,” said J. P. “Never mind engraving. Too fancy. Send printed cards to one hundred customers. Total cost fifteen dollars. Make ‘em grate- ful. Wh: “Che id Murray. “Printed cards to one hundred best cus- tomers. Compliments of the sea- son. Little snow-covered church, Bells ringing. Print on ‘em ‘With Holi Greetings of Chalmers Cabinet Com- pany.’ Do us lots of “Mellow time of the year,” said J.P. “Gotta remember friends. Gotta forget dollars for a while. Send ‘em right out. And say, on second thought, cut list down to fifty best customers. Total cost seven-fifty. Put nice thought on them. You know, peace on earth, good will to man, and all that sort of thing.” —Arrtuer L, Lirpmann Never look ye Gift Shoppe in ye face. comicbooks.com