Judge, 1931-09-19 · page 9 of 36
Judge — September 19, 1931 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis: Judge Magazine Page This page contains three satirical pieces targeting 1920s American social behavior and culture. **"At the Beach" and "And in the City"** mock the hypocrisy of vacation postcards. Neighbors exchange insulting, boastful postcards—claiming to visit exclusive country clubs and resorts they likely cannot afford—while privately despising each other. The satire targets both the pretense of aspirational leisure and the passive-aggressive social ritual of vacation greetings. References to "the Joneses" invoke the era's familiar phrase about keeping up appearances. **"Modern Mother Goose"** parodies nursery rhymes with 1920s criminal slang ("bump off," "stick up the shops"). It's dark humor mocking Prohibition-era gangsterism and bootlegging violence, presenting organized crime as casually as children's verse. **The theater cartoon** references Mickey Mouse, indicating this is from the late 1920s when the character debuted. The overall tone reflects Judge's satirical approach: ridiculing middle-class pretension, organized crime, and social conformity through exaggerated dialogue and absurdist humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Tueatre Maxacen—I told 'em to watch that cat during Mickey Mouse! At the Beach “H uma, look here, Ann, we've just got one of th’ darn things left. Who'll we send it to? Think hard now, we might as well get rid of it. Here look at it, it’s th’ worst one in the whole bunch. Ha, ha, ha, look at that. Let me see, let's send it to th’ Joneses. They sent us one last year, didn’t they? Sure they did, don’t you remember that picture of a snooty hotel they sent us with their room marked with a big X? I happen to know that hotel and Jones doesn't make enough in a year to stay there overnight. I can’t think of anyone else to dump it on to, can you? Let me sce, now, what shall we say well, we might as well say ‘H nice time—wish you were here. I wish they were here alright, I'd cither hold his head under water or sock him with a couple golf clubs. Of all th’ fellows I can't stand to have around it’s Jones and his wife. If there’s one thing that could spoil my vacation it would be seeing that terrible couple arriving here... .” And in the City , there it is, there it is. Those terrible Smiths. It's bad enough around this neighborhood while they are here without their spoiling the only peace we'll get around here for another year by sending us such ter- rible postcards. Look at that, look at that, ‘Having a nice time—wish you were here.’ Yeah, I wish we were there alright. I'll say I do, with a « couple baseball bats. They probably sent us the darn card just to get rid of it. Well, of all things, look here at this picture—just look at this... Why that’s the most exclusive Country Club in the country. A year's member- ship costs more than that guy Smith could make if he was a counterfeiter. Ha, ha, ha, and we're supposed to be- lieve that they're playing golf there, that’s good that is. Why, if he gets on that course, it must be as caddy and his wife’s so dumb she... .” “Don’t let him drop, else we'll never get the ball!!” 7 Modern Mother Goose P appy-cake, paddy man, ke, gangster’s Make me a pineapple quick as you can. Load it, and set it, and then let it fly, To bump off some very unreas’nable guy. See-saw, Marjorie Daw, Wreck this guy's joint with your axes, Stick up the shops, And bump off the cops, yall of your taxes. Ht. M. Fy Simile As purposeful as a trip to Reno. About the best recommendation a movie could have would be that it left even the ushers limp. It scems to us that the Nautilus is cruising around the north seas trying to chart the repair shops. And it begins to look as though the next war is going to be fought over the payments on the last one. ‘comicbooks.com