Judge, 1904-04-16 · page 10 of 16
Judge — April 16, 1904 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three domestic humor pieces satirizing early-20th-century middle-class marriage dynamics. **"Worse Yet"**: Mr. Penheck accuses his wife of forgetting to mail letters; she indignantly denies it, turning his complaint back on him. The irony—revealed at the end—is that *she* actually forgot to mail them, but successfully deflected blame onto him through aggressive defensiveness. The satire targets wives who use emotional manipulation and accusation to avoid accountability. **"Rich Tastes"**: A brief joke where a newlywed mother claims her baby swallowed her pearl necklace. The husband's response suggests she's deliberately raising the child with expensive tastes—satirizing wealthy or status-conscious parenting. **"Why Homer Only Nodded"**: A writer (Homer) curtly nods at women's club members rather than smiling, fearing that friendliness will encourage them to demand autographs. This mocks both celebrity-chasing behavior and the inconvenience famous people endure. The bottom cartoon, "Lived Through It," is a separate joke about a vagrant (Weary Willie) surviving a bath—unrelated to the marriage theme above.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WORSE YET. 6eMY DEAR,” said Mr. M Penheck timidly, pausing in his occupation of dusting the chandelier, “did you mail those letters Lasked you to post for me ?” “Of course I did swered Mrs. Penheck, who was deep in her perusal of the evening paper. “It is strange,” mented Mr. Penheck, with a touch of doubt in his tone, “that I haven't received any answers yet. One of the letters was to Brother Wil- liam, and "— “ Maybe somebody for- got to mail the answers,” interrupted Mrs. Penheck. “Don't always be hinting that Iam the only woman on earth who forgets to mail letters.” Iam not hinting, my faltered Mr. Penheck as he started toward the kitchen; “but I certainly think it strange "— ange “Now, just w Mrs, Penheck, drop- her paper. “Let's get this all straightened out RICH TASTES. town Mrs. NewLyweo—"' John, | think baby has swallowed my pearl necklace."* Fight: now.. 1 don't want Mr. Newtrweo—"'Gad! You seem determined to bring that young one up with the those letters bobbing up at tastes of a millionaire’s child." every meal for the next endar, That Mr. Penheck said with a triumphant smile, going to his own lit- tle desk in the corner of the room, “Why, here are the letters!" he cried. “1 must have forgotten to hand them to you.” guess you did!” sniffed Mrs. Penheck; “1 guess you did! Ido think it is time you were learning to know your own mind, Henry.” « But ["——— began Mr. Penheck. “But nothing! Am I to eat at home this evening or go toarestaurant? Next thing I know you'll be ac- cusing me of forgetting to eat my dinner when you have forgotten to put it on the table.” Mr. Penheck hurried to the kitchen, while his wife added the disputed letters toa bunch of others which were in her ample pocket, and which she had forgot- ten to mail. “Till post the whole batch on my way to the of- fice in the morniny she said, “and then Henry will get enough letters in reply month. When did you give them to me to mail?” to keep his mind off my summer clothes until the weather gets “It was either last Monday or Wednesday "— cooler.” “Good heavens, man! don’t you know what day it was?" “Lam trying to decide. T can't remember whether I wrote them WHY HOMER, ONLY NODDED, after I had hung out the clothes or after I had finished the ironing.” OMER nodded, Resenting his curtness, the members of the wo- “It must have been after you finished the ironing. You evidently man's literary club lifted their chins in the air and passed on coldly. had them on your mind while you were ironing, for my white-duck “can’t help it,” mused Homer, dipping his pen in the ink again skirts are simply not fit to wear to business.” and resuming work on his poem. “If I should smile and bow the “Well, whenever it was, I remember I made some memoranda — whole crowd would cross the street and demand autographs.” LIVED THROUGH IT. Fraveo Facin—“' Kin a lobster live in fresh water?” Torn THompson—"'Sure! Weary Willie, here, took a bath once an’ it didn't kill him." comicbooks.com