Judge, 1890-09-20 · page 3 of 16
Judge — September 20, 1890 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "A Ballad of the Tandem" This page presents a humorous poem about a tandem bicycle ride, illustrated with period sketches. The main cartoon at top shows an elaborate horse-drawn carriage with multiple passengers. The poem mocks the social awkwardness and logistics of tandem cycling—two people sharing one bicycle. The narrator expresses anxiety about riding with a woman, worrying about proper etiquette ("If I blow my own trumpet a little, / And try caddish love to win?"). The bottom illustrations labeled "Her Elegance in Dickering" show what appears to be domestic scenes of negotiation, likely satirizing social pretension or class-conscious behavior among the middle classes. The scattered brief commentary items mock contemporary political figures (Arkansas, Blaine, Sherman) and mention press figures, typical of Judge's satirical commentary style. The overall page targets Victorian-era social conventions and bicycle-culture humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A BALLAD OF THE TANDEM. WITH a fick of the lash on their shouliters And a spring by the man on behind We are off up the road for an airing In a form that is wholly refined, The leader, that quick, supple fellow, Knows just where we're bending our way, And the calm, solid chunk just behind him Will never a word disobey. As T turn to the girl close beside me, I think it a pardonable sin If 1 blow my own trumpet a little, And try caddish favor to win; So I tell her of how much it cost me To have the trap built in ‘* Paree,” And go into details extensive Of harness and fittings with glee. ARKANSAS and Tophet are Democra eee © by the usual majorities. BLAINE ‘Sherman question that the dd Edmunds are not so far apart on the tariff "t be drummed together without the drum. FE HAVE always said that the farmers were the bone and sinew of the country, and in all matters relating to the peppermint crop have stood by them most nobly. T 1S WORTHY of mention that T. B, Ri cratic press, is not only the czar of Russ well. Great head, great man, |, in the view of the Demo- but the late Oliver Crom- I confide in her car that the horses Stand twelve hundred dols, on my books ; That the grooms neat and well-fitting outfit Hangs two hundred more on the hooks ; While the mere little item of plating On hame, chain and buckle runs up To a figure abnormally healthy— The whip is a dream from Crosscup. She listens, I talk, and we travel rill Claremont we reach later on. Jack Treggett stands on the piazza And hails us with careless aplomb: “You euchred me, Tommy, you rascal ! I wanted that riglet for Jack, Lut the livery-man said you'd engaged it, So I had to drive up in a hack.” @ THE LATE Me. Iscariot is frequently mentioned in the debates of congress, his eleven faithful Republican compatriots being altogether forgotten. This doesn’t seem fair. HE SUCCESS of Mr. Sullivan on the stage suggests the employment of a few coal-heavers as leading actors; and if the museums might be robbed of their fat women the stage would not be very much depressed. A PORTRAIT in Brooklyn Life of Mr. Bowers, city editor of the Tribune, has attached to it the name and a biographical sketch of Mr. McKel- way of the Brooklyn Eayle, Mistakes will happen; but it will be sad if the New York man is generally mentioned hereafter as the left Bowers. HER ELEGANCE IN DICKERING. Miss Duxessirit (in the parlor) —"* town stores. Her taste is so delicate and refined th smallest detail of shopping, is dore in New York.” mma never patronizes the even to the Mrs, DukesMitit (af that moment and in the rear of the house) you'll throw in another yard of that tape, an’ gimme four packs of hair-pins an’ two lamp-wicks, with one 'r them cellerioid collar-buttons for my husban’, you needn't give me no change from that quarter."” comicbooks.com