Judge, 1905-05-20 · page 6 of 16
Judge — May 20, 1905 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous travel essay about Philadelphia (the "Quaker City"), illustrated with comic strips about "Little Tommy Fritzhorner" losing his beer keg. **The Main Satire:** The text mocks Philadelphia's bureaucratic inefficiency and lack of customer service compared to other cities. The author experiences frustrating interactions: a streetcar conductor who can't locate a lost package, and a train ticket agent who processes transactions rudely and impatiently. **The Comic Strips:** The four-panel illustrations show a boy with a small beer barrel ("lager") on wheels—a character reference suggesting immigrant German-American culture. The narrative shows him losing the barrel, finding it, attempting to retrieve it, and celebrating its recovery. **Social Context:** This reflects late 19th/early 20th-century American attitudes toward Philadelphia's reputation for cold, unhelpful service. The beer references reflect the German immigrant presence and brewing culture of the period. The piece plays on stereotypes about regional American differences in hospitality and civic character.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NOTES OF A FEW DAYS SPENT IN THE QUAKER CITY. QWEEEE APOLOGIES “TO MK. EDWARD LOK, RDELOK OF DO NOT SAY these incidents could not have city. have been in a few cities—Boston, happened in some other Likely as not they could, Sull, for instance. When wtter leaving Us t into the court of the city-hall, Lstreet station, L missed a T hurried package Pha with me on the tran. back with the intention of enteri ar and recovering the packay the ysteman took nent, Finally ind he told a mild interest in any stat Fimade the ease lear to him, the car had pulled out, Where is it now ? He studied his wi Well, E inquired anxiously {moment and. said, * the tanks just out of Ches When will wt return?" 1 He did 1 replied senter continued. nother turn of medita Well, it goes south about We and proceeded to eh ht to Found up: here pestlay noon, the combi nation on the dlectsie-bith hulletin-board,, is it was then Saturday, Eeoncluded not to wait In Boston the traimmen 6s, Don't logget your par elas ! The traveler trom New musses this cheerful ren Vhiladelp He mi watehtul care of the big rwhen ws the kindly, pr railroad corp el to in Boston, doubt the Pennsylvania is realizing a hand, some annual dividend by this policy of termi- nal teticence. While waiting for a trolley-car (Mr. Bok, on his Boston visit, rode only in cabs) in Ger- mantown [ set my umbrella against the corner nd deft at th An hour later I J concluded to go back just to of 4 store missed it see if the old Quaker character still assayed the true metal under the umbrella test. My eT left it—but a lit. cted on the oppo- umbrella stood right wh tle crowd had already col site corner a my umbrella, once set an ur on Hoylston street, Boston, that F thought it had been taken by tel Strolling on Rid wayon ahead of me, 6. E saw a milk Across the rear curtain Morrie Mink. Talk about the Boston conscience, [said to myself; Here is milk that is yo by the On a Montene Mink.” was the single line here is the true blue, name, n read * ty think 5 Phave been tryin what this « an, but don't hit ne yet. In the upper section of the city, right on the edge of fashionable ‘T wm undertaker’s shop. ya, F came across 2 place was made sightly by paint and a wealth of bulletin-bowrd i Mh ni y JN —and said, “* 4Y FRITZHORNER. THK LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL") figures, showing: that a funeral could: be ar- ranged for as low as seventy-two dollars, in- cluding a last resting-place. But what par- as the main sign, which extended over the sidewalk and read, A step in the right direction.” ticularly struck me fam not a believer in signs, so Tturned betore reaching this enter- prising emporium and directed my steps in another direction. When I returned to Broad-street station 1 went up to the ticketewindow with the fear and trembling we naturally fecl in the presence of august powers and asked for a roun ticket to Asbury Pa of the plate trip non the lance at 1,1 should Then he made ked nyt The gentler other si lass threw a me that seemed to miss me and say, somewhere west of Ohio. a little dab ata sponge, er hit a punch, slid a ticket al his fingers, glass coun- ter, and said © three-tifty !" about as quick as Lever saw it done. “If only 1 could have stated the dam: on a two-inch ad. when 9 Maine,” swith the firm, mvineible sense of was running a newspaper up I said to inyself eternal right that comes so easy to that young fellow, everything might be tur otherwise with today.” A few moments ls FL was speed- seaward, windin: 1 Philadelphic’s ¢, for the small ater, E had seen upwards of at , where the day | hundred wild beasts, Vot a bright boy I vas here!” comicbooks.com