Judge, 1930-10-04 · page 9 of 36
Judge — October 4, 1930 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Political Cartoon Analysis: Judge Magazine This page satirizes municipal corruption and political appointment in early-20th-century American cities. **Top cartoon**: A woman instructs her dog to "wash his mouth out with soap" after it bit "the garbage man"—a crude joke suggesting the dog has poor taste. **Main feature "Interviewing the Applicant"**: A wealthy man (identifiable by "big diamonds") interviews a mayoral candidate. The satire exposes how corrupt city machines operated: the candidate is explicitly advised to deflect serious corruption complaints with dismissals ("Go fishing"), neutralize reformers with speeches, and avoid real action. The fat man approves this cynicism and appoints him mayor—showing how patronage systems rewarded complicity over competence. **Otto the Elephant cartoons**: Appear to be separate comic strips, likely recurring characters in Judge magazine. The piece, credited to Al Stauderman, mocks the normalization of political corruption in American urban governance—showing how openly cynical the system had become.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Here, Fifi, wash his mouth out with soap Interviewing the Applicant ‘ie fat man with the big diamonds scowled. ‘What would you do if somebody started howling about graft ind corruption in this town?” he de- manded, “Go fishing.” “Suppose they send delegations after you?” “I'd make a speech asking their help to stamp out petty graft.” “And if they demanded action?” nt a committee.” he governor starts an in- vestigation? “Go fishing.” “Good. Now about offices. Who ow how would you answer ‘ that crime is flourishing?” “Demand more patrolmen.” “And what would you do when everything was running smoothly?” “Install a new traffic system.” “Good.” The fat man made a no- tation on his pad and the city had a new candidate for mayor. —AL STAUDERMAN JUDGE “orto *} ELEPHANT | he just bit the garbage man!” SMALLEST MAN IN THE Weert ame your comicbooks.com