Judge, 1901-03-16 · page 7 of 16
Judge — March 16, 1901 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several satirical pieces typical of early-20th-century American humor: **"To Charge and to Get"** mocks middle-class pretension. A homeowner spends an hour and a half educating a plumber about a novel ("To Have and To Hold"), then receives a bill for two hours' work. The joke: the plumber charges for time spent listening to the owner's unsolicited lectures, turning the tables on the self-satisfied narrator. **The cartoon vignettes** include: - "Untimely Greeting": Two bucking broncos as crude humor - "The Swagger Set": Satirizes small-town snobbery, where families like "Joughnes" and "Johnstones" (newly respectable name-spellings) pretend to aristocratic exclusivity while remaining petty and debt-ridden - "A Sad Travesty": Mocks American industrial callousness—a Brooklyn trolley killing hundreds while corporations prioritize profit over safety The humor assumes readers' familiarity with contemporary class anxieties, urban modernization, and American social climbing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TO CHARGE AND TO GET. PLUMBER came to our house one day this week to do some repairing. He was a nice man—for a plumber. He came fully prepared, too; didn’t have to go back after anything and spend unnecessary time. He was a begin- ner, I think. Ie seemed to be quite intellectual—for a plumber. He asked me if I had read “To Have and To Hold.” 1 told him that I had, and, wishing to ascertain the extent of his knowledge, I drew him out—quite skillfully, 1 think. T'soon found that, as I expected, he had some very er- roneous ideas concerning the book. I believe in the education of the com- mon people to a certain extent, and so I undertook to explain to him wherein he erred. I found him very set in his opinions, and it took me the best part of an hour and a half to make him sce things my way; but of course he finally came round and admitted that I was right. When I left him he seemed to be much amused over something. I presume that he had just discovered the point of a joke that I had told him. ‘The bill for the plumbing came to-day. Charge is made for two hours’ work, but Iam confident that it did not take more than thirty minutes to UNTIMELY GREETING. MULTUM IN PARVO. Hawirt—" What'll be my cue if they throw hen's eggs?” STAGE-MANAGER—" Duck-eggs.” THE SWAGGER SET. . WELL. no,” said the toquacious landlord of the tavern at Pettyville a trifle sarcastically ; “we ain't got any exclusive set or coterie that call themselves Finsr sxonco-svsrer—" Homiy, BOI?” the four hundred of this village, but we are afflicted SECOND BRONCO-BUS: “Why, hello, Buck! Shake !—— with what some of the rest of us are mean enough to designate as the snobbish Smythe class. It consists of Jones, who spell them- selves ‘Joughnes.’ John- sons,whoare* Johnstones.’ * Millars,’ + Brownes,’* Jen- fix that pipe. | intend to investigate this and tell the young man’s employer what I think of his meth- ods. I feel it my duty to advise this young man to kynses, and so forth, all seek employment else- Zar of whom have given up where, where he will not Y Uy, 2 5 s 8 Fe croquet tor gully and owe be under bad influence. 1 \ =\\ % the balance of us money.” am quite interested in him. & , 4 g ° Mrs. C. says that they are . ae : Ss = a A SAD TRAVESTY. charging for the time that eer = . oa I was explaining the book to him, but I cannot be- lieve that—he was such a nice young man. © Englishman—"Is it true that the Brooklyn trolley has killed hundreds since it started?” Gothamite —" Yes, That's the worst corpora- tion we have for grinding down the poor.” Witue Fiy—"* By Jove! that lady surety intends to flirt. ey) She's been looking this way a long time.” —ter a long time. comicbooks.com