Judge — May 25, 1929 — page 22: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a formal dinner scene where mechanical robots or automatons have replaced human salespeople and business representatives. The illustration shows these mechanical substitutes seated at a dining table with elegant furnishings and floral decorations. The caption reads: "When we can be represented by a mechanical substitute at those trade dinners." The satire targets early-20th-century anxieties about automation and technological replacement of human labor. One visible label reads "Sales Manager Report Asbestos Parts Corporation," suggesting specific industrial concerns. Judge magazine is mocking the notion that businessmen might one day be entirely replaced by machines at professional social functions—a commentary on both mechanization fears and the absurdity of reducing human business relationships to pure mechanical efficiency.