Judge, 1929-04-27 · page 2 of 36
Judge — April 27, 1929 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# An American Tragedy: Ethyl Gasoline Advertisement This is a 1920s advertisement disguised as satirical comic narrative. The "tragedy" follows Mr. Jones through a comedic domestic crisis: his wife sends his suit to cleaners, discovers a note reading "Don't forget Ethyl" in his pocket, suspects infidelity, and confronts him. Jones proves his innocence by taking her to a gas station—"Ethyl" refers to Ethyl Gasoline, the advertised fuel additive. The satire uses marital misunderstanding as comedic setup to promote the product. The punchline: using Ethyl fuel "brings out the better nature of back seat drivers," implying it improves car performance and, humorously, passenger behavior. This blends domestic humor with straightforward product marketing, typical of early automobile advertising that emphasized fuel quality and vehicle reliability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
= An AMERICAN In taking things out of pocket discovers scrap of paper reading: "Don’t forget Ethyl.” Hubby leaves important conference, after Mrs. Jones tells her better half what she thinks phone call that wife is in serious condition. of him and his “Ethyl.” Cr To prove his innocence Mr. Jones puts wife in Everything forgiven and both go riding with car and drives her to filling station. Ethyl, the standard “anti-knock” fuel. ©£.G.C.1999 e243 ETHYL GASOLINE Ethyl Gasoline enables any car to do its very best and also brings out the better nature of back seat drivers. Ride with Ethyl today. comicbooks.com