Judge, 1889 · page 39 of 72
Judge — 1889 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects four satirical comic vignettes from Judge magazine: 1. **"A New England Idyl"**: Mocks rural Irish laborers through dialect humor—a housewife offers pie to a worker who responds in exaggerated Irish brogue, complaining the pie isn't as good as what she previously gave him. 2. **"In the Organ Loft"**: Church humor—a tenor complains he can't sing properly because the organist is playing poorly/unsteadily. 3. **"Behind the Organ"**: The punchline reveals the organist is sick with fever, explaining his poor performance. 4. **"A Query/An Answer"**: Satirizes Chicago's notorious muddy streets and poor municipal infrastructure—men waiting to cross because streets are impassably muddy. The humor relies on period stereotypes (Irish dialect comedy), everyday frustrations (poor infrastructure, illness), and situational irony. These reflect typical Judge magazine content: light social satire targeting immigrant groups, urban problems, and middle-class annoyances rather than serious political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BEST THINGS FROM JUDGE, A NEW ENGLAND IDYL, Hovsewire—* Now, my good man, here’s a piece of home-made pie. You Knicnt of Lavon— Me axe wora thrifledull, maddim; but, saints save me ! go over there an’ chop some kindlin’ wood, an’ when you get through I'll give _av th’ poie yez gev me ain't betther for the wur-ruk!” you some more,” IN THE ORGAN LOFT. BEHIND THE ORGAN. First TENOR (in a vigorous aside to organist)—"" How in blazes do you sup- Den.ows-nov—"'T c-can't help it, g-gents, I've been f-fighting this fever pose I can sing with the organ quavering like that ?” an’ ager for a week, but it's no g-go!” A QUERY. AN ANSWER. “Why are these men waiting on the curb of the muddy street?” “It is in Chicago, and they have been waiting to get across dry shod.” comicbooks.com