Judge, 1930-11-29 · page 2 of 36
Judge — November 29, 1930 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page is primarily an **advertisement** for Judge's Second Cross Word Puzzle Book, priced at $1.50, offering "5000 laughs." The cartoon depicts a domestic scene where a man (Pa) presents the puzzle book to a woman (Ma), saying it's "the most reasonable offer I ever saw." The woman responds that she can hear "Frank laughing now." The setup appears to reference **Frank**, a laid-off policeman mentioned in the accompanying story, whose parents hope the puzzle book will cheer him during unemployment caused by "the slump in the Bootlegging business." The satire targets **Prohibition-era bootlegging** as an economic sector, treating organized crime casually as legitimate employment. The humor relies on the incongruity of using a puzzle book as consolation for joblessness and crime-industry collapse—a darkly comic Depression-era reference to illegal alcohol distribution.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Its themost reasonable J can just offer [ ever Saw Laughing, 5000 LAHFS FOR $1.50 IN JUDGE'S SECOND CROSS WORD PUZZLE BOOK Frank is one of the 1,000 policemen laid off due to the slump in the Bootlegging business. Poor Frank, he’s always been an honest, hard-working boy, and this idleness is killing him. Pa and Ma, ’way back in Powder County, have been rack- ing their brains to think of something to cheer up their absent lad and restore his spirits. Pa was in New York this year at the Calve Dealers’ Convention. Pa’s the type that looks things over—he never misses a trick. And, strolling ‘round the lobby of the Hotel, the cutest trick he espied was the little blonde dame at the news- stand, so Pa barged right over to her and said with a sly wink: “Know any hot cracks today, baby?’ “Do I!” she came back, right smart. “Do you think I’m selling Jupce’s Cross Word Puzzle Book all day long without ever learning anything?” “Do you know, for instance, that a Postman goes for a long hike on his vacation, but a Mason just gets plas- ORDER YOUR COPY NoW! tered?” “Oh, gosh!” groaned Pa. “I hope cops don’t—my boy is one, out of a job and alone in the big city.” “Cops don’t have JUDGE PUBLISHING CO., INc. -29. too good a reputation,” said the lass. “If 18, Bast, 46th Streets New: York: N:.¥> I were you I'd buy him this book to cheer - him up and keep him out of trouble.” As » for which Pa was leaving, Jupcr’s Cross Word Puzzle Book tucked snugly under his arm, he shot her another sly wink, and she snapped him up with: “Please notice in that book of yours that when better girls Address. eee are made Hispano-Suiza will make them— not an old gink from the stix like you!” Dear Sir: I enclose $ Name comicbooks.com