Judge, 1929-04-06 · page 16 of 36
Judge — April 6, 1929 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1920s-era Dr. Seuss satire mocks Prohibition-era social hypocrisy through absurdist humor. **The three "uses" mock:** 1. **Bank presidents eating lollipops disguised as bass drum players** — satirizes how wealthy, respectable men feared social judgment for minor indulgences, suggesting absurd disguises to avoid scrutiny. 2. **Broken barometers in speakeasies** — directly references Prohibition (1920-1933). Illegal bars ("underworld cafés") supposedly displayed barometers showing "fair weather" to signal police that "good fellows" were present, deterring raids on establishments serving alcohol illegally. 3. **Easter egg paint cleaning** — straightforward child labor joke about boys earning money after school. The core satire: during Prohibition, seemingly respectable institutions (banks, police) participated in or enabled lawbreaking while maintaining appearances of propriety. The absurd "solutions" highlight how ridiculous this moral hypocrisy had become.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE - = = —— 7 Three New Uses for Obsolete Objects Salvage Antiques from your Attic, and Realize a Profit! By Dr. Seuss A Use for your Old Brass Horn | OW hand I can name more than twenty New York bank presidents who would like to eat lolly- y pops on their way to work. But none of them dare; they are afraid that people will talk. If they went to work disguised as bass drum wever, the size of the horn would divert players, the publie’s gaze from the Lollypop A Use for Broken Barometers If you run across an old barometer while housecleaning. don't throw it away! Your naborhood speakeasy will be t glad to buy it. All’ the underworld cafés are hanging them up oo... with the arrows indicating fair weather. When the intruding police see that it is fair w her, they naturally assume that good fellows are getting together. And as they | only pinch joints that cater to bad fellows, they call off the | raid, leaving the place unmolested. J A Use for your Old Grindstones Only a few weeks ago everyone was painting Easter Eggs. Now that Easter is past, the problem arises how to get the paint off again. Peo- | ple pay well to get their Easter | Eggs cleaned! The diagram shows | two energetic young boys picking up some easy change in their spare time after school. comicbooks.com