Judge, 1934-10 · page 12 of 36
Judge — October 1934 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "High Hat" and "The Coise of Drink" - Judge Magazine This page satirizes wealthy society's attempts to appear socially conscious. The **Scavenger Hunt** article mocks the rich for sanitizing the traditional "Treasure Hunt" (which rewarded finding valuable items like diamonds or Rolls Royces) into a harmless game collecting mundane objects—shoes from Broadway star Marilyn Miller, a goat, a bathtub. The judge argues this "ruins" the game's appeal to the poor during economic hardship, then sarcastically suggests the wealthy organize a *truly* expensive hunt requiring months and vast sums, referencing contemporary figures like Admiral Byrd, Judge Crater (a famous missing person), and Hitler. The cartoon illustrates the scavenger hunt's chaos: well-dressed participants scramble indoors gathering absurd items while asking "Any of you boys know how to sew?" Below, "The Coise of Drink" tells a slapstick joke about a drunk repeatedly colliding with a telephone pole before concluding he's "walled in"—typical period drinking humor. Both pieces reflect Judge's satirical criticism of upper-class frivolity and excessive drinking culture.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIGH Rubbish! EVER at a loss to meet up with AN the situation, these society swells who think up stunts like serving dinner backwards, have organized the Scaven- ger Hunt. In theory it is supposed to supplant the old time Treasure Hunt, during which, if you participated, you were supposed to go out on a simple clue and work your way all over town to a spot where a large and valuable dia- mond, a bag of gold, or a Rolls Royce was concealed. The finder was keepers and the clues were hazardous, silly, and vague. Naturally hunting for diamonds, bags of gold and Rolls Royces being a bad iS SS xample to the poor in these times, the wealthy have extracted the teeth of the game and made it harmless. Hence the Scavenger Hunt. The idea for this whiz of a time killer is that everyone invited on the party meets in evenivg clothes at a designated spot, say Park Avenue and 52d Street. There the host appears and hands out a list of things to be scavenged. For in- stance, the list will contain (as one did) One of Marilyn Miller’s shoes; a lock of Clifton Webb's hair; a goat; a rubber plant; a garden rake; an old bathtub; a redheaded lady who writes poetry; a boy scout uniform, etc. It being night in N.Y. and places be- ing closed, many of the above items “Any of you boys know how to sew?" 10 HAT were more difficult to get than they ap- pear on paper. Especially the goat and the rake and the old bathtub. Of course, Le Miller & Le Webb (who were playing in “As 1000s Cheer” at the time) were in on the gag but still one had to get by the stage doorman, etc. And lady redheaded poetry writers are not exactly a dime a dozen. In any case, the point was that the person who dragged in most of the list to the party within a certain time limit was the win- ner and a good time was had by all. Well, the boys will be the boys and I recommend the game to you if you can make your lists funny in a colossal way. As for the rich who will probably be- come ever so annoyed when the poor take up their game, I have an improve- ment to suggest. Why don’t they make the game one requiring time, leisure and jots of money? Why confine themselves to the measly limits of one night in New York? Why not organize a hunt that would require the party to fare forth and bring back from the following list— A lb. of Admiral Byrd's f. favorite blubber; one of Mr. Zaharoff’s extra yots; a piece of Hitler's ear; a section of the track of the Manchurian Rail- four dinosaur eggs; a bushman; ank Buck; Judge Crater; a barrel of Siberian snow; some new jokes for die Cantor; one of Mahatma shandi's sheets, etc. The Coise of Drink E of favorite boiled owl stories concerns the drunk who staggered up to a telephone pole, ran into it and got knocked back flat. He picked himself up and tried to get around the pole from another angle only succeeding in hitting it and going down again. So he tried once more and again went flat on his back. Accordingly he picked himself up, brushed himself off and hic’d philosophi- cally: “’Sno use, walled in!” my ND Jack O'Keefe tells of a gent who met a lovely dumbie on a plane going to New York. He took her to dinner promptly on arrival, comicbooks.com