Judge, 1897-12-18 · page 33 of 53
Judge — December 18, 1897 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous domestic sketch satirizes wealthy men's misguided Christmas gift-giving. Mr. Tiff displays expensive presents for his children—a gold watch, pearl necklace, diamond ear-rings, sealskin collar—yet his wife receives only a bottle of perfume in a small case. The joke mocks the husband's obliviousness: he proudly shows Mr. Bickers the diamonds, which Bickers assumes are for the wife. When corrected, Tiff reveals they're for "my type-writer"—his secretary or mistress. The satire targets men who lavish luxury goods on themselves or their paramours while relegating wives to trivial gifts. This reflects class anxieties about infidelity and the proper (or improper) allocation of marital wealth during the Gilded Age. The surrounding comic vignettes—about unsatisfactory Christmas gifts and marital discord—reinforce the theme of holiday gift-giving as a barometer of domestic relationships.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OLD MR. TIFF’S PRESENTS. ae HELLo! What's this I see said Mr. Bickers, as he en- tered Mr. Tiff’s private office with all the confidence of a privileged character and saw his friend with a variety of articles of various sorts spread out upon his des! “Don’t you know what time of the year this is?” asked Mr. Tiff. “This is Christmas eve.” * Just so.” “And those are,” waving his hand toward the collection of jew= elry and bric-a-brac, “Christmas gifts.” Guessed it first time,” replied Mr. Tiff. “You're a smart man.” “You must have quite a lot of people to make presents to. “Lhave,” said Mr. Tiff, as he took up a gold watch. * This is for my son, who will be of age soon. Isn’t that a beauty of a timepiece ?” “It certainly is. The boy ought to be proud of it.” Mr. Tiff ted a pearl necklace. “That gewgaw is for my eldest daughter. She comes out in February, and I think she will look well with that string of pearls around her neck; don’t you?” “They would certainly add immensely to any young lady's beauty," was Mr, Bickers’s approving reply. in that box yonder is a sealskin collar for my second daughter, and here,” laying his hand on a rather bulky oblong box, fi * boy, who is of amecha took up a pair of flashing diamond ear-rings and held them so as to catch the light from the window, “I suppose is to gladden the heart of your wife?" “Well, no,” replied Mr. Tiff; “my wife's present is in this small case. It is a bottle of her favorite perfume.” “ But those splendid dia- monds?" You think they are splen- did, do you asked Mr. Tiff with deep in- terest. perb stones, per fectly matched, and set in most exquisite taste in a perfect fascinating de- sign.” “Tam so glad you approve of them,” said "They are for my type- WOMAN'S TASTE AT FAULT. HE. Christmas necktie may be fun, But yet it makes me wilt ‘To have my best girl give me one Made like a patchwork quilt. MISSED THE SPREAD. Parson Primrose—" How was it you didn’t have a turkey dinner this year 2" e dis wuz de Christmas Judge. NO DANGER OF DETECTION. NossexneD—"" Shay, m' frien’, kin yo" tell me where (hic) 's a telephone office ¢ I wan’ tell my wife (hic) I've got business ‘ten’ to, an’ I don’ want her t’ smell my breath.” THE BRUTE. Mrs, Cobwigger—" Oh, Henry ! you don’t know how bad I feel, Fred die stole two of the mince-pies I made. Cobwigger—" Never mind, my dear; perhaps they won't kill him. Weary Wrageles—"'C fust Chris'mus | didn’t spend on de island.” Eruen, h i DorotHy—" Oh, you don’t love him one bit ; if you did you would call it auburn.” ** You see, I am not quite sure whether I love him or not. He has red hair and "—- comicbooks.com