Judge, 1891-10-03 · page 6 of 16
Judge — October 3, 1891 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces mocking early 20th-century social conventions: **"At the Telephone"** satirizes women's gossiping and the telephone's role in facilitating it. A woman makes endless plans while repeatedly being interrupted by the telephone operator, whom she insults for "charging extra for gossip." The joke targets both women's perceived chattiness and the new intrusion of operators into private conversations—a social anxiety of the telephone era. **"Forced Into It"** mocks hasty elopements, suggesting a couple married simply to avoid small-town gossip when they couldn't turn their buckboard around after a late-night drive. **"The Boiling Point"** and **"The Enthusiastic Harpist"** use Irish dialect humor (common in period satire) to depict domestic scenes, though the specific jokes are unclear from the text provided. The cartoons collectively satirize gossip culture, small-town surveillance, and emerging technology's social complications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
420 “SUDGE AT THE TELEPHONE. EMININE VOICE—Hello! that you, Dora?——Yes, I want to tell you we've made up our minds to go to-morrow instead of to-day —To-morrow, same time—Yes, to-morrow, 2.10 train—George is coming, now don’t fail—Oh, no fear of hat. Now retnember—Who says? Harry? He's a saucy thing, Wait till I see him Well, all right. Be on time——Oh, nothing but my small satchel and the lunch- box. 2.10 train—Yes, it came all right; I like it immensely. Well, good-bye—Oh, dear, | hope zof/ Tell him —don’t tell him— Maud would rage if he came to the depot. . don’t you know they've parted for e-c-e—(to the central office)—In one instant ! —Please don’t let him come. The central office is interfering. Good-bye, dear; 2.10, and don’t let him——(¢o the central office)—Yes, yes, directly!—It will only make trouble if they meet. Say! I had a dear letter from Lou. She tells me the baby is—(to the central office with dignity)—Allow me to finish my sentence—Dora, fetch my little brown cape, will you?— Yes, all right—good-bye—What? Oh, a miserable turn out. Scarcely half the invitations accepted. She isn’t popular with——(to the central office) — Sir! —Oh, these people are really outrageous. They have just told me, from the central office, that they charge extra for gossip in the morning. Good-bye. The impudent things! 2.10, don’t fail now, and remember — (to the central office) — You are exceedingly insulting, whoever you are. we THE boarders who this summer sought for needed change and rest At mountain, lake and seaside have resigned the hopeless quest And turned their faces homeward with their pocket-books comptessed. ‘The hotel-waiters got the change, the landlords got the rest. FORCED INTO IT. + 6A it a premeditated elopement ?” “Oh, no. They went driving ona buckboard and Chappie couldn't turn it around, so, rather than have all the old women in the place gossiping because they came in after midnight, they drove on and got married.” THE ENTHUSIASTIC HARPIST, Mr. HooLiHaN THE BOILING-POINT. * Honorah ?” Mrs. Hoouinan—"* Phat is it?” Mr, Hoouan—* av th’ pot. Oi want it hor * me me tay froom th’ bottim comicbooks.com