Judge, 1929-06-08 · page 9 of 36
Judge — June 8, 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Satirical Advertising Parody This page parodies patent medicine testimonials—a common advertising format of the early 20th century. The fake "unpublished testimonials" mock the absurd cure-all claims these products made. **The satire:** - "Pingard's Pills for Prickly People" supposedly cure vague ailments (shooting pains, weakness) in California, yet the testimonial hilariously admits the husband "quietly passed away"—the pills killed him—yet the writer recommends them anyway. - "Salmon's Soothing Sunburn Syrup" allegedly treats a child's serious conditions (lobster-red skin, measles, lost bathing suit) so effectively he becomes immobilized ("stiff and sore"), which is presented as a success. The bottom cartoon shows people in vehicles crashing chaotically, captioned "If rubber heels did what the ads make you expect"—further mocking false advertising claims. **The point:** Judge ridicules the patent medicine industry's deceptive marketing and consumers' desperate faith in bogus remedies, despite obvious failures presented as triumphs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Unpublished Testimonials Pingard’s Pills for Prickly People For more than 16 years, come last Candlemas Day, 1 was weak, sickly and run down with shooting pains in the lower part of Cali- fornia, where my husband had a My eyelids began to droop and T never thought we would reach San Antonio that day, what with the pains, the chills, the quivers and the detours. My friends told me to try onc thing after another but none of them gave me any relief and they gave me up for lost. Finally, in sheer desperation, I bought a sack of your Pingard’s Pills for Prickly People, took them home and made my husband cat two or three of them after cach meal, and espe- cially before retiring. Inside of two months your remedy brought me total re- lief. My husband quietly passed and now the grocery store is gone and I can sleep sound all through the night. [certainly can recommend your pills to all my friends and will keep a supply on hand when Mr. Milsenauer and me go to housekeeping next month, Your obedient servant, ABNERELLA StROOKER. Salmon's Soothing Sunburn Syrup Well, sir, if you could of only seen my little boy, Ikey, last week when he come home from the sea- shore. He was red all over like JUDGE If rubber heels did what the ads make you expect. “Yes, Mandy—trimmest craft I’ve seen about th’ harbor ina fortni’t!” a lobster, had mosquito bites, molasses mouth, shore ticks, lost his bathing suit, measles, flat feet and 1 in the shoes. My old man was gonna send for the doctor but I seen your f Salmon’s Soothing Sunburn so I got some from the speak-easy and applied it like you said in the directions, Anyways, we covered him from head to feet and he looked so funny it was worth th 00 per bottle. By the end of the week Ikey was so stiff and sore he promised not to go near the sea- shore again all Summer and for which I blame it all on your won- derful fine syrup, and much obliged. A thankful Mother. —Ricuann S, Warrace. comicbooks.com