Judge, 1931-12-19 · page 13 of 36
Judge — December 19, 1931 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains two satirical pieces: **"The Next Step"** mocks the absurdity of imprisoning athletes for their sports prowess. A defense lawyer argues his client—who can run 100 yards in ten seconds, played all-American football, and excels at baseball—is innocent and victim of a "frame-up." The satire targets Sing Sing prison's apparent recruitment of athletes for its sports teams, suggesting the criminal justice system prioritizes athletic talent over justice. The lawyer's passionate plea that athletic superiority shouldn't be criminalized exposes the contradiction. **The bottom cartoon** depicts domestic chaos—a cluttered apartment where a husband holds rope like a tightwire, with wife saying "I need them to carry out your budget system." This satirizes 1920s-era "scientific" household budgeting systems (likely Frederick Taylor's efficiency movement applied domestically), suggesting such rigid financial planning creates absurd domestic disorder rather than the promised order. Both pieces critique contemporary institutional overreach and misplaced priorities.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Request for Flowers Treen then was in the lilies, In their pale and stainless light; Joy was in the red, red roses (Joy is red and triumph white). Roses wither all too quickly, Lilies better last, I th knowing, ly pink? —S. H. JUDGE The Next Step “Tro sum up, gentlemen of the jury, I say again that my client is in- nocent, that he is the victim of the most atrocious frame-up ever per- petrated inst an honest man. There he was, quietly walking down the street when suddenly he was placed under arrest and rushed off to the sta- tion house. And why? Simply be- cause he can run a hundred ds in ten seconds flat. Simply because he was nominated all-Americ: tackle while at college. Simpl; there isn't a better second baseman in all America. His only crime is. the crime of athletic superiority. There- fore I ask that you free him, that you send him back to the arms of his wife and children. Is this justice? Is this American fair pl: A thou- sand times no! ause Sing Sing needs football and baseball play- ers is no reason to railroad an honest man to ja I rest my verdict will be , gentlemen. confident that your not guilty.” —ALL. REFORMER asks if it is really true that there is much necking in apartment house hallways. Well, all we can say is that we make a practi of knocking on the door before going out of our apartment. THN Nae —=4 fh Wor—Them? Why, I need them to carry out your budget system. Ww comicbooks.com