Judge, 1931-07-25 · page 11 of 36
Judge — July 25, 1931 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains three distinct satirical pieces: **Top cartoon ("Bill Collector"):** A slapstick scene of a bill collector being violently ejected, satirizing the uncomfortable confrontations between debt collectors and debtors—a common anxiety during economic hardship. **"Famous Battles of History":** Mockery of recent celebrity/literary feuds (Gilbert vs. Tully, Dreiser vs. Lewis, Vanderbilt vs. Arno are apparent references), presented as absurd "battles." The wheat surplus joke suggests farming crisis concerns of the era. **"Radio Cop" gag:** Satirizes radio patrol cars and dispatch communication, poking fun at the mundane (ordering hamburgers) amid serious-sounding police procedure. **"Burning Love" poem:** Kay McKay's verse mocks romantic poetry's sanitization of physical reality—poets ignore sunburned backs and knees while romanticizing summer love. The final cartoon illustration reinforces this: an aging couple on the beach, with the wife's nostalgic comment suggesting faded romance. The page reflects 1920s-30s concerns: economic hardship, emerging technology (radio patrol), and debunking sentimental idealism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Birt Corrrctor—Maybe I shouldn't have cut through the coal yard! Famous Battles of History T ohn Gilbert-Jim Tully slugging match. Ted Dreiser-Red Lewis slapfest. The Young Vanderbilt-Peter Arno hit-and-run, slip-and-fall, blank cartridge, dirty look, telephone call, now-you-chase-me fracas. And if this terrible drouth continues the farmers won't be able to add more than about two or three hundred million bushels to the wheat surplus. Ravio Cor—Patrol car—number five—pick up a « couple of hamburgers on your way in patrol car number five, pick up a couple of hamburgers, that’s all! 5 | Burning Love ut, you who sing of summer's love, Of flaming lips beneath a tree, Be frank and add to the above The blistered back and burning knee. Oh poets! Must you alway Why can’t you, just for once, come clean? ‘ Admit—in ‘reaching for your sweet, That you'd prefer the Unguentine. —Kay McKay cheat? Toten Freebil “When we're on the beach, Homer—you seem once more the boy I fell in love with.” comicbooks.com