Judge, 1931-01-31 · page 9 of 36
Judge — January 31, 1931 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains satirical commentary on 1920s-30s American life: **"Washed in Public"** poem mocks judicial corruption in New York, suggesting magistrates hide misconduct ("dirty linen hidden 'neath judicial robes"). It references ongoing investigations exposing corruption and rent-collector scandals. The quip about Hoover likely refers to President Hoover's unpopularity during economic crisis, while the Prohibition-era joke warns that even if alcohol returns, prices won't fall. **"Trouble"** story (by R.C. O'Brien) humorously catalogs domestic disasters—flu, accident, broken furnace, frozen pipes, broken glasses—then delivers the punchline: the husband's appointment as magistrate tops them all. This satirizes the irony that a judicial appointment, normally prestigious, becomes the final indignity given the corruption exposed in the "Washed in Public" section. The cartoons illustrate both pieces with visual gags matching the text's tone of social critique wrapped in humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Washed in Public Ives of magistrates remind us, 4 After some official probes, There's a lot of dirty linen Hidden ‘neath judicial robes. And these judicial investigations in New York seem to be bringing out more dirt than a broom thrust behind a radiator. Just at present it appears to be the rent collector that is making the world move. And now Mr. Hoover can under- stand what the rest of us think of the nate. We may eventually get old-fash- ioned wines and beers back, but never, we fear, at the old-fashioned prices. “Better use the new dialing system. | Trouble rounte,” said the lady next door i to my wife while they were ex- j chang tales of woe, “you don't know what trouble is. I've got it. 1 | Grandma is down with the flu and the 2 | two youngest have it, too. My oldest é | boy got hit with a taxicab and is in the ‘, hospital with a broken leg. The fur t, nace in the cellar broke down and :2 | there’s no steam heat. Also no water, le except in the cellar, because the water pipes froze and burst. I br my . | glasses and I can hardly see my way ‘ ] around. And to cap the climax, just ’ i when we thought we had reached the i limit and had all the trouble it was i possible for one family to have at one m : 1 time, my husband comes home and tells me he’s been appointed a magis- trate!" ed, R. CC. O'Biiex “Well, I apologized, didn’t 1? And I’m sorry it ever came up!” comicbooks.com