Judge, 1891 · page 50 of 69
Judge — 1891 — page 50: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate humorous pieces typical of Judge magazine's satirical humor: **Top illustration**: A poetic voyeuristic piece titled "Silhouettes" where the narrator observes neighbors through windows and shadows, finding them amusing or intriguing. The humor relies on Victorian-era prudishness about privacy and the speaker's obsessive people-watching from his "third floor back." **Bottom left cartoon**: "A Bid for Future Comfort" satirizes childhood manipulation. Young Peter tries to trick a shoe salesman into recommending expensive padded shoes to his mother by promising he'll claim they're "stylish," earning the boy a free ticket to an "Injun show" (a traveling exhibition). The joke mocks both the child's scheming and the salesman's willingness to deceive customers. **Bottom right cartoon**: "In the Gallery" plays on near-sightedness. A myopic man mistakes a woman's grandmother's 1830 portrait for her grandfather—the joke being his assumption about gender based on painting age/style rather than appearance. All three pieces target genteel society's foibles and absurdities through gentle mockery.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FUNNY A moment ere her light goes out One buxom damsel, short and stout, Winds auburn hair on strips of tin, And bends them till it stays therein, INE At evening when the sun hath set, And blue skies deepen into jet, T sometimes light a mild cigar, And wonder who my neighbors are. I watch them from my third floor back— In truth they are an oufre pack ; And you would quite agree with me Could you know all the things I see. One graceful shadow stands between A gas light and a gauzy screen ; T have not seen her face, but yet She hath a charming silhouette. BOOTS & SHOP THINGS FROM JUDGE. A jolly Rabelaisian priest, Who has a dozen chins at least, Puffs his old pipe with peaceful leer And mighty swigs of bottled beer. One wild-eyed Yahoo blows the flute Till all the wrangling cats are mute ; Some hapless love hath crazed him quite, And made of him an Ishmaelite Sweet neighbor, whosoe’er thou art, I pray thee draw thy screens apart, Or sable curtains spread before ; I would see less of thee, or more, MARCELLUs. A BID FOR FUTURE COMFORT Littte Perer Fravepsack—“' Say, boss, that's my mother over there buying slippers.” SHOE-DEALER—** Yes?” Lrrtte Perer—" You tell her that ones made of worsted with padded soles is th’ most stylish, an’ you gets a free ticket to our next Injun show.” IN THE GALLERY. Miss ScutcHzon—"' That's grandma's portrait, painted in 1830.” Mr. BRINDLEY (more than near-sighted)—"'And this, of course, must be your venerated grandfather.” comicbooks.com