Judge, 1884-02-16 · page 4 of 16
Judge — February 16, 1884 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains two distinct pieces of Victorian-era satirical content: **The Main Cartoon** depicts a character named "Little Bledsinsop" thinking winter is fine because he can take girls ice skating. The accompanying text is a first-person narrative (apparently in African American dialect) about a man's domestic life—describing his wife's preparations for social activities, his church attendance, and his casual deception about his late-night whereabouts. The humor relies on the contrast between the man's pious religious claims and his actual behavior, typical of Judge's social satire mocking hypocrisy. **"Faith in Her Word"** jokes about a lady claiming her daughter is twenty when she's actually older, and everyone politely accepting this obvious fiction for ten years. **"An Open Valentine"** is a poem satirizing romantic idealism, suggesting that true love cannot be weighed or measured against material wealth or even cosmic forces—a sentimental parody of Victorian poetry conventions. The page reflects Judge's focus on satirizing middle-class pretense, domestic life, and sentimentality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
creature. Den wen dis got dry, ¢ her off wid a piece ob linen, and ‘she came forth like a sriow-ball, suah enuff. Den some pink went on de cheeks and some black on and den de hair—my warn’t dat quoiffer a caution an no mistake. If Phronie ebber am able to make a head look a artist an no mistake. little onpleasantness sus war so m dat it didn’t m alsomine or enything else would ebber hab de power to make her look han- som t night, dar she stood, all ready fora bawl, as white and as peart as she war—and as day coltay too. y polished } he squoze her fect into a shoe | 1dat de heels | mall fur he r de toes dat no human being inem, but I tole her dey didn’t dancing war up yere. does it all in german—dats wat dey calls it any- how, end day all has favorites. She war a shoin a favorite got mad an clared he wouldn’t have n german, no how, an I doan know now w dev does, Probly dey does it in french—Now I doan know what Ise written all dis for, I meant to about my spiritool welfare. tin up some tractable meetins echurch, and last night—I dun got so ppy along wid a lot ob odders dat I clean forgot what time it war—and when I got home it war daylight. latch key wen I fust arribed yere dat I’se ke ebber sence—but de m “and THE JUDGE. p BECAUSE HE CAN TAKE THE GIRLS | de missus doan know no moar dan d about dat do what time ob night I gets in. jar’d be a row if dey foun it out— a goin to do her spiritool dooties whatebber happens—an I nebber felt | happier dan I did when shoutin glory las t wid Brudder White. ake good care ob de odder childers and 1 yer looks out for de shoat, an wen I back yer ‘Il be rewarded. Ebber de sat Yer lubbin wife, Dinan Mubperry. Faith in Her Word. A Lapy with ada ve it out that she wa party one evening shi zhter of unce was 5 danghter and a lady remarked: “How old did you say M y was?” quiet ws said. were just talking y, and the lady was | quit ‘ : y st ou know she is only twent purse, madam, of cours heard you tell it for the least, and Ihave every you would say, madam, for I've last ten years, at onfidence in anything —Merchant Traveler. | An Open Valentine. ADAPTED TO THE THES “Ile who by True-Love is care Though lacking all beside, i He whom hat) vainly ‘The love I offer’ thee art, Evangelie, I weighed, to see Jd prove really worth In terms of common earth ‘This thing of heavenly birth, Yelept How much ‘tw Truc-Love " And first [ tried pure Geld s Twas told who had ¢ And worldly wise ‘own old Would casily outwei (Down b Prue-Le Of Paradit The effect was just the Upon the Fay Ww Upon the scale: p. It had no weight! L tried the Earth itself With all its kings, fames, pelf Against the little « Unmoved she sate v Tis very strange! I'll try The effect was p vr The Stars | added; they With all the Milky Way And all the nebule S drous grand Methought would surely do To weigh down Love though True Such as T offer you, O sweetest friend «more in ght to the soul allied. Like Love, the Fay of pocts sung, Around the balance swung! But there it stood. comicbooks.com