Judge, 1929-03-02 · page 9 of 36
Judge — March 2, 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This 1929 Judge page combines humor pieces targeting 1920s social anxieties. The "Secretary Bird" is a pun linking incompetent office workers—stenographers and secretaries—to a real bird species, satirizing widespread complaints about clerical staff's poor spelling and literacy. The main cartoon shows an "absent-minded doctor" with a racing pulse, advised to quit coffee, smoking, and late hours. This reflects 1920s medical anxiety and the newly fashionable concept of doctors diagnosing based on lifestyle rather than illness itself. "Similes of 1929" parodies Al Jolson's popular song "Sonny Boy," while scattered jokes mock period figures: an optimistic Florida real estate dealer (referencing the 1920s land boom), a process server dodging summons, and an absentminded professor. The humor targets work culture inefficiency, medical fads, and economic speculation typical of the pre-Depression era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ JUDGE Fowl Verse Ty TUT= VERY RAPID PULSE . You'LL HAVE To WT OUT COFFEE, SMOKING , LATE HOURS ANo---- The Secretary Bird Here is a dumb-looking kind of 3 \ Titihy bird That cannot) spell the simplest word, Beyond a doubt (I'M bet my hat) That's why they called the crea- ture that. Or, it may be the other way round: They named the bird first, then they found That Secretaries or Stenog- raphers . Absent-minded doct feeling his ow Ise. Were pretty rotten lexicographers. Abecnt-minded doctor feeltug: hisiown: pute Oheway onotherttaneentt nue Similes of 1929 As It Might Have Been Sung matter. Permanence—As changeless as 5 by Mister Al Jolson Both, we find, are full of chatter, ay taxi driver. Don't climb on my knee, Sonny Spending their time in idle preen- Boy, ing Don't climb on my knee, Sonny Or scratching the dirt, if you get Heaven help the sailors on a Boy, our meaning, night Tike this! And give a It's still sore and stinging Groner Mrrenri. thought to the passengers, too! From my Mammy si ra Don't climb on my knee, Sonny Boy! oak ©. O' Bares “Summons at the door,” said the process dodger when he heard a knock. “Let's make boom boom,” sug gested the Florida real estate dealer wistfully. be one of those incurable optimists 2 — 1 “ve aH cw BY” -~ ? oC fother i) who will always believe in scions. And then there is the absent minded professor who held an eg in his hand and boiled his wa _o- Recipe for good time: IT, drink a ” fag and be merry “What did your wife say wher “Rags and Old Tron!” joodbye, PIL sue you later’.”” comicbooks.com