Judge — March 12, 1904 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top Cartoon ("Away Up in Languages"):** Rural characters (Mr. and Mrs. Mepoercrass, depicted with exaggerated dialect spelling) discuss young Lizzie Plunkett's musical talents. The joke plays on class and education: the father proudly claims she can "play music written in French, German, Spanish, an' Eyetalian" — but he means she can read sheet music in different languages, not that she speaks them. The humor mocks rural/working-class misunderstanding of sophistication and education. **Bottom Cartoon ("No Sale for Him"):** A book salesman attempts to sell a woman a fairy tale collection. She declines, saying she's been married four times and "fairy tales are a chestnut with me." The joke: marriage has made her cynical about romantic fantasy — she's experienced enough reality to dismiss fairy tales as clichéd or unrealistic. The humor targets both women's marital disillusionment and sales-pitch futility.