Judge, 1899-06-10 · page 5 of 16
Judge — June 10, 1899 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple humorous pieces satirizing early 1900s gender and social conventions: **"Why She Hated Them"** mocks the "bloomer" controversy—women's divided skirts worn for cycling and athletics. The joke: a woman claims to hate bloomers because they've repeatedly disappointed her. From a distance, she mistook women in bloomers for men on the hill, ruining her romantic hopes. The satire targets both the fashion debate and female sexuality, suggesting women's real interests lie in romantic pursuits rather than practical clothing. **"Belgian Venus"** is advertising copy objectifying a woman at Ostend beach, using classical mythology to romanticize tourism. **"Costly Conversation"** makes light of Klondike gold-rush pricing by joking that asking prices itself costs money—frontier humor about inflated costs. **"His Predicament"** plays on the proverb about being "known by company kept," suggesting a man cannot escape an undesirable marriage. The cartoons reflect period attitudes: dismissal of women's fashion choices as frivolous, casual misogyny, and class-based humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHY SHE HATED THEM. HATE the very name of bloomers!” He gazed at her in surprise, He couldn't understand why she should say such a thing, for during the three days of their summer engage- ment he had found her anything but a prude. Only the night before he had sat with her in the hammoc the gentle evening breeze had swayed the frail network s\ given a little frightened. scream and held on tight—and it wasn't on to the hammock she had held, either. x “Yes,” she repeated, “I hate bloomers. Before you came into my life, dear, often have I climbed that hill and strained my eyes down the road that leads from the station. But day after day I gazed in vain. Not a sight of a man had I seen in this wilderness until your coming tured it into a paradise.” “But why do you hate bloomers, my dear?" he asked. “Why do I hate them?” she repeated bitterly.“ Ab, you don’t know what it is to be a girl and to watch and wait, day after day, for a man. Twenty times at least have I seen on the brow of that distant hill what I was sure was a man. I have cried and shouted for joy. And then— and then—just when happiness seemed mine the hateful thing has turned out to be a woman. Why do I hate bloomers? Oh, the very thought of them! Put your other arm around me, dear, or I'll fall out of this hammock.” JAMES JAY O'CONNELL, STANAWS, @& osTeND No, XX1, BELGIAN VENUS, To Helgium’s favored beach, Ostend, ‘We ‘tly from London or Paree, ‘A weekcin sun and surf to spend— 7 Aiso, dear nymph, to gaze on thee. ‘A goodly shape, in sooth, art thou! ‘e-incarnation, it may be, ‘Of her who once, as thou art now, Was Venus risen from the sea. - COSTLY CON- VERSATION. New arrival— “How much fer a night's lodgin’, pard 2” Klondike hotel- keeper —" Six. dollars and a half, One dol- lar, please. New arrival — “One dollar? What fer?" Holel-keeper— Fer askin’ how much it ‘ud be.” HIS PREDICA- MENT. ay \ MAN is known by the company he keeps. There's a good deal of truth in that and it worries me.” * What's the mat- ter? Can't you cut away from some of your associates ?” A RECOGNITION. “Not handily. Sux—" Is it my Bill, or that horrible Smith Bill? Oh, my poor You see, I'm married old eyes! If I could only make out those patches.” to her.” comicbooks.com