Judge, 1902-11-22 · page 5 of 16
Judge — November 22, 1902 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a visual gag about female fashion and social competitiveness. The cartoon shows elegantly dressed women at what appears to be a "Sunshine Society" meeting. The joke's premise: a woman wore an expensive new hat and gown expecting to impress, but instead the outfit was so stunning it made all the other women feel dowdy by comparison—thus casting a "gloom" over them. The satire targets two things: women's vanity and competitive social dynamics among affluent ladies' clubs. The pun on "gloom" (darkness/sadness vs. the Society's sunny name) adds the humor. The elaborate cross-hatched backgrounds and fashionable dress details emphasize the pretension being mocked. This reflects early 20th-century satirical commentary on upper-class women's society gatherings and fashion obsession.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
av) Zz ~-~4—_2»— —_.—_ VERY EFFECTIVE. your new hat and gown to the meeting of the Sunshine Society? What effect dd it have?" It cast a decided gloom over every woman there.” **$o you wore “Simply great, It comicbooks.com