Judge, 1931-10-03 · page 6 of 36
Judge — October 3, 1931 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Page The page contains two satirical cartoons mocking contemporary problems during an economic depression. The upper cartoon depicts a "Racketeer's Son" complaining about not buying "protection"—a direct reference to organized crime extortion rackets that plagued American cities in the 1920s-1930s. The joke is that even criminals' offspring expect payoffs. The lower cartoon shows a stage scene captioned about "homefolks" discovering someone "was on th' stage," suggesting social scandal around theatrical work. The right-side poem "The Masterpiece" satirizes economists and their charts predicting economic solutions during hard times—mocking their abstract theories as useless when faced with real unemployment, food shortages, and poverty. The "Economic Expert" represents the perceived failure of expert analysis to address the Depression's actual human suffering.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Naming It Public officials in England have had their salaries cut on account of the de- pression, Well, when politicians over here agree to less salary, it won't be the depression—it will be the millen- nium, Then there's the New Yorker who has been taking his mother-in-law rid- ing in the rumble seat a lot lately in the hope of more gangster shootings. There are still plenty of going con- cerns in the United States—but not so many of them know where they're ng. And now times are so tough that people have even stopped promising to pay. The mail order business slogan: The customers always write! Racketeen’s Son (at bottom of pile )—Serves me right for not Then there're the nudists who start- buying no protection! ed playing clothes poker. The Masterpiece Qn a dominating figure in con- temporary Art Is the Economic Expert with his vari- colored Chart. Though his draftsmanship is perfect and his range of thought immense, He is handicapped to start with by a lousy color-sense. cuts a yellow coil, SCENE! He will show that higher Gasoline must balance lower Oil And he makes a pink parabc con- That the Cotton in the Surplus cheap- ens Cotton in the Shirt. | ACT I With an apple-green trajectory. that sons all complete Why there can’t be empty stomachs with an overplus of Wheat, And his answers, to the problems of the millions unemployed Are the functions of an angle in a pur- ple trapeze: In a blue-and-scarlet helix are his rea- | Yet if he will draw an orange curve with black-and-silver nodes When he proves that Urban taxes should be spent on Rural roads, Just imagine what wil! happen when his artistry responds —=a_ To the Debt Relief, the Bonus, and the Billion Bucks in Bonds! “And when th’ homefolks found out I wuz on th’ stage, they nearly died!” —Joun Hume ‘ comicbooks.com