Judge Magazine - March 29, 1924 / The World's Wittiest Weekly. Art Deco. "Telephone" Number.

New York: Leslie-Judge Co., 1924. First Edition . Illustrated Wraps. Near Fine. 11 1/4" x 8 1/4. R. John Holmgren. New York: Leslie-Judge Co., 1924. First Edition. March 29, 1924, Vol. 86, No. 2213. 11 1/4" x 8 1/4; illustrated wraps, 32 pp. Cover by R.John Holmgren, interior illustrations in four-color and B&W by a variety of artists. Remarkable condition for a Judge issue from the 20's. Faint soiling / toning, otherwise a bright, colorful, strong near fine copy with small corner folds at front cover and the original subscriber's name stamped on the back cover. Very sharp. The "Telephone" number of this famous and long-lived weekly magazine of humor & satire, which by this time was very Art-Deco in its illustrations; plenty of flapper-ism, too. Telephone theme is suggested by the cover (see scan) featuring a fetching young lady nibbling on one particular page of her Little Black Book prior to dialing a likely male prospect, as well as by some of the interior humor, but Judge editors (at the time of this issue, Douglas H. Cooke, Norman Anthony, William Morris Houghton, and William Edgar Fisher) were never much for limiting themselves entirely to the theme. Jokes, cartoons and satire abound, interestingly unencumbered by current forms of political correctness. Some of the artwork is really quite Art Deco here, though the issue was published just one year after the exposition which truly focused that art genre and eventually gave it its name. A notable example is a two-page, four-color caricature spread by Ralph Barton in Deco style - if you can imagine Deco caricatures. Remarkable. Superb piece of Americana and American humor, laced with very with-it art. A very handsomely preserved copy, which is itself something of a rarity for issues from the era. LG8