Judge, 1902-05-31 · page 7 of 16
Judge — May 31, 1902 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"The Foolish Mule"** is a moral fable about vanity: a vain mule, embarrassed by her age, has her teeth extracted to hide her true age from inspection. The satiric point: the strategy backfires—a toothless mouth actually advertises her advanced age more obviously, making her deception counterproductive. The moral explicitly warns that "paints and powders rarely deceive any one but the woman who buys and applies them"—targeting female vanity and cosmetic self-deception. **"Vanity Fair Up to Date"** follows, depicting the Richquick family acquiring a new automobile, which the husband believes will solve their social problems. The final panel reveals it didn't—suggesting nouveau riche optimism about material goods proving hollow. Together, the page satirizes American consumer culture and vanity, particularly targeting wealthy families and women's cosmetic practices. The tone is moralistic and somewhat misogynistic by modern standards, typical of early-20th-century satirical magazine humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘THE FOOLISH So the teeth were yanked MULE. 1 u F 4 ltl out at considerable pain and (Afabie) Nel : db pene some expe And then the A EADY MULE | 2 es Swate ; lady mule readily opened her that was vain [HNN Se G \ . : ‘ %] mouth for the inspection of j of her personal ap- pearance once ned that the ge of equines could be told by inspecting their teeth, This fright- ened the creature. “To prevent rude men from getting wise on my antiquity,” said the lady mule to her- self, “I will have my teeth pulled, With these. sign- posts on the high- le way of time re- ! rm moved the date of a4 my birth will re- Ain main a deep, dark secret.” who might be concerned. “ By the beard of Methu- sclah !" remarked one man who looked at the toothless gums, “this beast is older than the ing hills. One might as well peer into the mouth of a catfish or a Mexiea cannon, or even a F dueling pistol, and try to gain wisdom about dates.” Moral— Paints and powders rarely de- ceive any one but the woman who buys and applies them, wma THE skeleton in the closet usu- HINT TO PING-PONG PLAYERS. ally picks the lock Don't laugh while your opponent is serving the ball—you might lose it. and gets out. wi 4 "| * eather. ere! ruess the; cycling and driving all holler."" We'll have to take the conceit out of them next went oul on 60 many alrs now.” © ” 5. Mr. Sorenean (the Sunday ofter|—"* | think this 4. But the Richquicks got ahead of them again. new five-thousand-dollar automobile will settle 6. But it didn't. This was the limit, them all right."* VANITY FAIR UP TO DATE. comicbooks.com