Judge, 1931-05-16 · page 13 of 36
Judge — May 16, 1931 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Satire Analysis This page satirizes early aviation anxiety and automotive dangers through ironic contrast. **The Main Joke:** A wife obsessively warns her husband John against riding in "dangerous" airplanes while they drive in a clearly unsafe automobile with multiple mechanical failures—loose steering gear, broken horn, defective emergency brake. She insists on safe "terra firma," yet their car nearly hits a truck and ultimately collides with a tree. **The Satire's Point:** The cartoon mocks public perception of new aviation technology as inherently risky while ignoring documented dangers of automobiles. In the 1920s-30s, when this appears to have been published, cars were statistically more dangerous than early planes, yet society perceived flying as the greater threat. **The Bottom Cartoon:** A stockbroker asks his son about investment margins—a separate financial joke, likely referencing stock market speculation and risk. The humor relies on the audience recognizing the logical absurdity: fear of untested aviation while casually accepting automotive hazards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
I to know it was going to be right there around the corner, practically in the middle of the road? .. . Go on, John, get out and unhitch the fender.” “W at last. I thought we'd never get here—I don't know what's the matter with the car, it won't seem to go fast today. Maybe the gas is low... . John, where are you going? John, don’t you dare go and ride in those terrible airplanes. I won't have an easy moment—you don’t care how much you worry me. Oh, John, please come back and stay in the car with me where you'll be safe!" —M. D. “TI just washed it this morning and now I can’t do a thing with it.” “IT’S SO DANGEROUS!” ‘tr we almost at the field, John? Now, dear, I want you to promise me you won't ride in any of the planes. It's so dangerous.” “Sure! ‘M not going up. Not me.” “That's a good boy, but I want you to promise. I just couldn't stand it if I Iet anything happen to you, but——" , easy on the corners, will you?” “Oh, I forgot to tell you, the steering gear has gotten sort of wiggly lately and it seems to work better when you go fast than when you go slow. That's why I'm going f I don’t notice it so much, ... What were we talking « Oh, yes, about your riding in the airplanes. I'd be simply on pins and needles every minute of the time—oooh!” “Say—how about blowing your horn once in i. “Aw, go lay an egg!” ‘Oh, the old horn’s gotten so weak I t bother with it any more. I just speed up a little instead and that makes the engine go louder and they hear t But that truck driver almost didn’t hi . . Wasn't he funny, the way his got red? ... Well, now, you will stay the ground where it's safe, won't y “Because it isn't as if pilots were re- liable. A lot of them have licenses that heaven knows how they ever got them, and—ooooh! ... Did you see that, John? I forgot the emergency isn’t any good any more. . . . Well, now, remember, John, you've promised me you're going to stay on terra firma and not go soaring around among the clouds. Of all stupid things, anyway. As if the flowers and trees and things right here on earth weren't beautiful enough. Give me my choice between a cloud and a tree any n ‘ Z , oe DunKeL, day and I'd pick a tp—OOOOH !” < , A a “Ooomp!" “Wh-what hit us? A—a tree! Well, Srocksroxer’s Son—Do you think I ought to have more margin it certainly wasn’t my fault—how was on this, father? i comicbooks.com