Judge, 1904-06-11 · page 7 of 16
Judge — June 11, 1904 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page of early 20th-century satirical humor contains several unrelated comic vignettes: **"The Flower to Bet On"** celebrates the watermelon—a working-class fruit that reliably produces value, unlike ornamental flowers. The poem humorously contrasts its lack of aesthetic appeal with its practical worth to poor men. **"Back at Him"** is a simple joke about someone who compulsively retells old anecdotes and gets called out for it. **"Obed Daw's Theory"** humorously presents lazy fishing—sleeping while waiting for bites—as an ideal leisure activity. The remaining sections ("Tit for Tat," "Quite the Reverse," "A Wrong Diagnosis," "A Tough Proposition") are brief comedic exchanges about landlords raising rent, a doctor's profitable business, a man injured at bargain sales, and marital conflict. **The "Tough Proposition" cartoon uses dialect humor** featuring African American characters (indicated by the phonetic speech pattern), common to period humor magazines, though such stereotyping would be considered offensive today. The jokes center on everyday frustrations: inflation, medical costs, consumer culture, and relationships.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE FLOWER TO BET ON. F ALL the bloom that fills the field, When summer's beauties shine, But when you look upon the bloom, So modest in its way, There's none like that which blossoms on, ‘The watermelon vine. You know what it will be when you Come back a later day. It has no fragrance, and its style Of beauty is not rare. ‘A blossom means a melon, and A melon is the thing ‘To make a poor man feel as good And better than a king. ron You wouldn't pick it for your girl ‘To sport upon her hair. BACK AT HIM. BEJIGGERS has just finished his choicest anecdote, Rejaggers refuses to laugh at it. “T can tell an old joke when I hear it,” declares Bejaggers. “You bet you can!" snaps Bejiggers. “You generally tell it about the next day after you have heard it, and keep on telling it until no one will listen to you.” OBED DAW’S THEORY. HERE Tit upon the dock, Fishing in the deep, This is just the way to fish ‘That I like the best, For my angling is a dish Of sweet, gilt-edged rest. And I catch them left and right While I sleep and bake ; For whene’er I get a bite, Bang! and I'm awake. TIT FOR TAT. Laboring man—"1 want to renew my lease.” Landlord—" Well, the new scale of rent for your flat will be eighteen dol- lars instead of fifteen, for a month of twenty-five days instead of the old num- ber.” QUITE THE REVERSE. Patient— \can't afford to be sick.” Specialist— Is your business so profitable 2” Patient— No; yours is.” A WRONG DIAGNOSIS. “Oh, John! how often have I told you that a man has no business attending bargain-sales?"* “Mary, You wrong me. It was an automobile did this.”* A TCUGH PROPOSITION. * Yo" mean man, yo’ hab done me wrong.” Mrs. Persimmon Y Wacal, yo're sech a tough proposition no man could do yo" right unless he wuz a professah ob boxin’,"" Mr. Persimmons—' comicbooks.com