Judge, 1903-04-11 · page 6 of 16
Judge — April 11, 1903 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes wealthy women's obsession with Easter bonnets as status symbols. Mrs. de Style, wealthy and vain, purchases an elaborate, expensive bonnet designed to attract admiration. Mrs. Gunbusta, equally well-to-do but unable to afford a new hat after her husband's plumbing bill, retrimmed her old bonnet. The joke: at church, everyone focuses on critiquing Mrs. Gunbusta's shabby hat—calling it "frowzy" and "horrid-looking"—while ignoring Mrs. de Style's costly creation entirely. The moral mocks society's shallow preoccupation with appearances: trivial matters ("trifles light as air") carry disproportionate social weight. The accompanying vignettes mock health fads and marital economics, common Judge targets. Overall, the page ridicules upper-middle-class conspicuous consumption and women's competitive vanity during the Edwardian era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tw chapeau!" said an- (© EASTER BONNETS. ere (A Sabie ee was . f “What a frowzy TWAS a few days before Easter, A eh : picce of headgear! and every woman's head was \ : otetae tee ; chirped still another. POU IECINE NET ( ae “T wouldn't go out- Mrs. de Style lived in a pala- ! out. f doors with such a tile! tial mansion, and she got every- > " y : sarcastically grumbled a thing that was costly, from an aan 5 B dalewaratte o€’coale (ath é = stout little woman. parle cana ues a ares J These and other ex- wanted an expensive Easter bon- . : : E : pletives were passed net that would attract attention ¢ - A + : x ane around the edifice, and from all others. And she got it. 3 , a. A everybody was so busy *Oh, what a floral dream ! , ; talking and looking at said she. “I'm sure everybody in By! 4 : ; f : / Mrs. Gunbusta's old hat church will gaze with wonderment ; - 4 that nobody even so at it : : : : . much as glanced at Mrs. Now, Mrs. Gunbusta was also Se p de Style’s costly bonnet. well to do, but her husband had "1 n ; ; Moral—Trifles light paid a plumber’s bill a few months : ; as air sometimes carry before, and it was impossible for 4 : : great weight, v. r. rerze. her to get any morey out of him as for an Easter bonnet. So she got , OFF HIS FEED. out her last year’s hat and trimmed (6 AN'T [ serve you t oe , ee ¥ { 1% some nice curried _ Oh whit seedy ttn i ‘ eggs this morning, sir?" aca hoch wit’ A oud: lind asked the obsequious everybor ¥ inc burch wi | f 5 3 waiter. gue with wonderment / ‘cer Vy d “Curried eggs?” re- a “e i J peated the guest. "What faster came along on : Ps 9 have I struck—a mare's time, and Mrs. de Style and 38, n ) nest? Mrs. Gunbusta went to church, A SYSTEM. Mrs, Gunbusta s6]F YOU keep your had hardly got in- head cool and your side with her old feet warm,” declared the health faddist, * you will rid yourself of dyspepsia.” “Ah!” commented the victim of indigestion. should play both ends “y aa against the middle, Well, Jones is putting a brand on the market that makes aristocratic blue blood.”* should 1?" hat on when every- hody gazed at her 1 in wonderment. : “Oh, what a A SURE WINNER. horrid-looking old “Jones has started out to make a fortune. You know how many brands of health-food there are hat!" said one. that make ‘rich, red blood ' ?”” uch an old NO WONDER. “They say he hasn't bought his wife any clothes since he married her."* “Well, he can’t very well. She only allows him fifty cents a week out of his salary." comicbooks.com