Judge, 1929-06-01 · page 11 of 36
Judge — June 1, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains two satirical cartoons by S.J. Perelman mocking sentimentality and false cheerfulness. **Top cartoon:** Depicts a church opening its windows on a traffic corner, with the caption suggesting ironic contrast between spiritual peace and urban chaos—likely critiquing how churches present idealized tranquility disconnected from real city life. **Bottom cartoon:** Shows a jovial judge about to pronounce sentence, laughing "Ho-ho-ho!" The surrounding text is Perelman's sarcastic essay attacking forced optimism. He mocks self-help rhetoric urging people to "laugh" and "grin" to avoid depression, arguing this advice comes from those profiting from others' misery (referencing those who "paid forty sous for your book"). The judge's impending laughter while sentencing someone exemplifies Perelman's point: cheerfulness becomes grotesque when disconnected from human suffering. He attacks both false wisdom literature and the hypocrisy of those promoting it. The satire targets 1920s-30s American optimism culture and commercial exploitation of motivational platitudes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE “Where is that bear of ours?” would query [of our bear-master “He hay just fallen into. two groups,” would be his riposte And sure enough, when we looked in the groups, there was our Bruin, sutfering with croup. “Yes, here Iam,” he would gloat, look ing up croupily from the group. “But why that gloat?” [used to question, “Oh, we're just hay ing some puffed gloats with cream down here,’ was that bear's Parthian shot. Then, adding injury to insult, the Handbook says on Pag 30: “The gray squirrel ix a prince of ood fellows. He is kind, alert, and always ready for a remp.” Here is gray squirrel propaganda and how, “The fact is that they ure quite the reverse, A_ little sister of mine was kidnapped by gray squirrels and sold to gypsies; | | it is one of my boyhood memo rics. Or perhaps she was kid »ped by gypsies and. sold. to squirrels perhaps. At any she turned up one day with her portmanteau stuf berts and the oozy-we tail you ever the Roger Williams P. stuffed and as natural with fil ziest bushy w. She is now in rk Museum s you make ‘em (that is, as natural as you make gray squirrels). You will find a more detailed history of the incident in “Paula Perelman Amongst Those Gray Squirrels.” by John Dos Cactus, published by Benjamin Day Day, Day and Co. Not content with these “whoppers,” the editors think they are poets also and go Edna Miilay or something on Page : Get a load of these silver th The church on a traffic corner opens its windows to let in the spring air. “Why don’t you laugh, and make us all laugh, too, | And keep us. mortals all) from getting blue? ! 1 will always win, If you can’t laugh —just grin. Goon! nin! Why don’t you laug Why don't I easy, boys; I was one of the barnics who paid forty sous for your book. You're the ones who should laugh. AND you prob- ably do. I wish I could think of a shell game like the one you've got. Love and kisses from the suckers. Jeupor (with sense of humor, about to pronounce sentence )- S.J. Peretaan Ho-ho-ho-ho! Oh-ho-ho-ho! You'll die when you hear this! comicbooks.com