Judge, 1884-02-09 · page 11 of 16
Judge — February 9, 1884 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a gentleman in a top hat speaking to a woman on what appears to be an icy surface. She complains she cannot keep her feet while skating, though she can skate adequately. His response—"Oh, yes, I can skate well enough, but I cannot keep my feet"—is clearly a double entendre suggesting romantic/physical instability rather than literal skating difficulty. The surrounding text, "Lines to the Gushing Girls" by an old stager, is a cynical poem warning young women about romantic deception. It advises that men who write flattering letters and declare eternal love are unreliable—they tell every woman the same things and are "no better than the rest." Together, the cartoon and poem satirize both male romantic posturing and female gullibility, suggesting that flowery declarations of affection mask shallow, wandering intentions. The satire targets Victorian courtship conventions and the gap between romantic rhetoric and actual male behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE JUDGE. ; . o> on || Don't make yoursely T know you're young Bat I tell you that your special friends foe ‘om, or Jack, of Billy y deem him grand ant th The L tell you to your fai No better th noblest at T know he Your golden tre Anil writes you piles of \] Adjectives underlininy | y irs read them o'er and o'er and wer Each ti Bat wait a while, you'll find that he's But toa He s score of other No better than the test | He tells you that he never loved | Hefore the day he met y« | | s the sume, 1 n't know b i} He "Thinks Card wn ave ful pe | Depend apon it, dew better Wait till you're wed a litth And then, E think, you'll spy | Which is that speaks the truth, Tthink you'll own its 1 You'll find that he bas bid At which you You'll wonder Was better than the rest depths, CLA Mr. Fippur-rapone—" Oh, yess Len skate well enough, but 1 cannot keep my feet.” || | A—t Is it possible you cannot skate?” Ww you fancied he alone asserted her superiority as the preter of the loves and hatesof the uperbereations, In every shop wine ghi-. | "Twixt Cour Will find & ass tells me that, but it is sod told it all the C. arriare, yout matis | They are tv itera suing dow you see her picture, a EVISTLE IV. dl neni | records and fl nd her fa * You must exense me not ans Mig of your overs a mag J and triumphs. How delightful! yourlast more promptly, [have been ae crossed in my studies that Iq | te her y BRISTLE: Us neglected you, Of course vou i to wetter than the rest * © © Since T wrote von last P have know how f Splendid! my Subdue those very flowi got fu elon the road that leads to sTam the most apt pupil he has With which your love you paint the shi ple of fame, 1 ealled on tuition, and ‘he has had all the several managers and received from them next aminent actresses on the boards t to ne encouragement atall, They all uiked day, Isn't that teo sweet for anythin \! Lou.may slo very weil vetthy bite in the in about the foot of the lad- [eis a darling old fellow, and has had der. be: he knows ** all the business walk rt stars that have illuminated thing. [very phunly informed them t tment for the half a sens. | Pnever could think of t n they advised | century” to quote from one of his circulars. | me to stop where Twas. That only made : ‘ The Top of the Ladder; | me the n PISTLE VI. on “There fs TUE STAR OF AN EVENING, T will travel it BY CUARLES 1. DAY all, made amad scheme: nis fail; stad genit ladder isa dizzy he is a terrible on what ¢ divine the eldest of then | Trard of Aven, non a while touch Bulvwe shore one suececds, thous: infatuated with Shakes imber this, the top of the tand the fall therefrom [The following verbatim extracts a the lette written that they ton frightful © ‘ould repeat | | and terrible wari to those who would | As Lam determined to have my own head it yond for wort mathe t pouch as looking **monnt the top of the 1. at a single | in the matter, I have secur teacher of 1 the ied ocala mal or bound.”] | the dramatic art, an_eloc who once | Some marked co] acted with Forres I reecive pers inted with the gentlemen EPISTLE IL. ete. * © Well T have been ‘learning ” My instrnetor is very compli= Tremind him so * © * [tis fully d and th n he Tam going to make my debut and the that of Cushman, has been duly chronicled in the press. ‘The EPISTLE 1. | Brooke. You s is well acy : * , © You recollect how very. suc. | my next. press, | You will ee that they are quite com- || cessful T used to he in amateur theatricals? | plimentary, speak of me as’a society be | sand in ction, Tam going ot that I have any necessity for pursuing such a course, as you, of course, know I have no need of money, but I do need fame and adulation, my whole | thinks my style is mo \ nature craves for it. You may have heard | He is so very flattering and still so sincere. professor says Lam the most apt pupil he of that Kentucky girl who grasped the | He remarked only yesterday: had and [have made most wonderful diadem at the first—no weary struggles, no | — ‘Miss, your beauty alone will carry you ress, **Praise from such a source is pr menial apprenticeship, but her living genius | throu t . Too busy to write more. You may be surprised, but my t clinations being in that ¢ to study for the s EPISTLE VI. ermined upon; comicbooks.com