Judge, 1929-07-20 · page 2 of 36
Judge — July 20, 1929 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is primarily **advertising content**, not political satire. The page promotes bottled carbonated beverages using a humorous historical framing device. The central image depicts **Nero**, the Roman emperor, portrayed as a comically violent figure. The advertisement uses Nero as a joke vehicle: when a Philosopher pedantically notes "Rome was not built in a day," Nero dismisses philosophy and reaches for a carbonated beverage instead, declaring it the best way to "keep cool on a hot day." The satire is mild—it's simply poking fun at Nero's historical reputation for excess and cruelty by reimagining him as an impatient, thirst-driven character. The advertisement's core message: carbonated beverages provide refreshment on hot days, endorsed by an absurdist historical reference. The American Bottlers of Carbonated Beverages logo appears at bottom right.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BOTTLED CARBONATED BEVERAGES “Let he as he dropped the fiddle and grabbed the bottle burn!” said Nero, “Rome was not built in a day,” droned the Philosopher, “No; but I set fire to it in about half-a-minute!” bragged the great Nero. “Which just proves,” droned the dreary Philosopher, “that the forces of Destruction are exactly 976 times faster than those of Construction,” “Razzberries!” interrupted Nero. “The only figures that in. terest me are those of the Danc. ing Dollies chorus. Send ‘em in. s for you,” pointing to the Philosopher, “you can go to blazes!” “kh « “No use talking,” said Nero, settling himself for a pleasant afternoon as the third fire alarm rang out, “there’s just one way to keep cool on a hot day... Boy, bring on a few more bottles of carbonated beverages. Those zippy drinks go right straight to the thirsty spor!” IN YOUR