Judge, 1902-12-20 · page 25 of 52
Judge — December 20, 1902 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical page mocks small-town American life during the holiday season through several interconnected jokes: **Uncle Abner's Sarcasm**: Two rural men discuss a son spending his Christmas money frivolously—sharp commentary on working-class financial struggles. **Seth Shuck's Hired Man**: A three-panel sequence showing a servant excluded from the family's Christmas dinner. He eats progressively larger meals alone, culminating in him tipping over his chair—visual humor about class inequality and the servant's revenge through gluttony. **Joel Pinchpenny's Wife**: A cruel joke: the "joy" is picturing her forced smile receiving a cheap toothbrush and necktie instead of real presents—satirizing stingy husbands. **The Wigginses**: Mrs. Wiggins performs the dramatic recitation "Curfew Must Not Ring To-Night" (a popular Victorian poem), while her husband, bored, naps through it—mocking pretentious small-town cultural performances and marital indifference. The overall theme: rural Christmas life is characterized by poverty, class division, marital discord, and tedious respectability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
———————— CHRISTMAS TIME IN SLOWVILLE. ALA Wi il : | i 5 NOTHING IN IT, UNCLE ABNER'S SARCASM. ¥ 5 r “ Jonny Wuirete—*Say, do you call it fair, when you ben “"L see by the Enterprise thet yer son Ed ‘s cum home fer ter sperd the hollydays.”" good ta yer sister, an’ kep’ yer face washed, an’ went ter Sunday. Y-c-p: Ed's spent all the money he could git helt on, so | guess they hain't nothin’ E¢oo1 Yer a ‘hull month, anv then only git a bum toot-brush ana else fer him ter spend.”* . an’ then on! girl’s necktie fer a present ?”” First course. SECOND COURSE. TMIRD_COURSE—AKD OUT. Seth Shuck’s hired man, not being included in the family’s invitation to a Christmas dinner, gets one up for himself. \ E—FA , | LE | M ml iy \ i e! ys y ~~? CHRISTMAS. JOY. Picture to yourself the glad smile on the face of Joel Pinchpenny's wife when she gets her presents. AT THE WIGGINSES’ ENTERTAINMENT. Mrs. Wiooins (the town elocutionist)—"** Curfew must not ring to-night!" Henry Henreck Wiccins (startled from his nap)—"* All right, Maria. Have yer own way “bout it.” .comicbooks.com