Judge, 1905-09-30 · page 10 of 16
Judge — September 30, 1905 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"A Lovely Call"** satirizes shallow upper-middle-class social visiting. Mrs. Chattyr describes her new neighbor entirely through material possessions—wallpaper, draperies, sofa pillows, mahogany furniture, cut-glass dishes, jewelry—never mentioning the neighbor's character or personality. The joke targets how Victorian women's social calls reduced people to inventories of expensive goods. The husband's deadpan responses ("Mrs. Smythe seem interesting?") underscore the vapidity being mocked. **"Going to Work"** and **"On Strike"** are brief comic dialogues. The first depicts a tramp negotiating work terms with a farmer (the horn-blowing joke plays on the tramp's laziness). The second appears to reference labor unrest, with Irish workers ("Pat," "Mike") discussing strikes and arrests. The sketches collectively mock class pretension, working-class desperation, and gender-specific consumer obsession—typical Judge magazine targets of the early 1900s.
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A LOVELY CALL. CALLED on the family in the new house on the corner to- day, dear,” said Mrs. Chattyr as she handed her husband his cup of tea. “Did you? And how did you like them 2?” “Oh, I think they are going to be very nice neighbors. I saw no one but Mrs, Smythe—that is the name, you know—and I stayed only a few minutes. Of course I wouldn't stay long when making a first call, and she— Oh, they did have the loveliest paper on the parlor walls! It was almost a clear white, with a small satin stripe in it, and just the faintest pale-pink roses in the stripe, and they had draperies to match the paper—and I wish you could see their mantel drapery! It is the loveliest thing, and it gave me a splendid idea for the new drapery I plan to have to cover that horrid old marble mantel in our back parlor, Yes; and I got an entirely new idea for a sofa- pillow, and "— “Mrs, Smythe seem + Yes, quite so. As I say, I think they'll be real nice neighbors, and— Oh, yes! Mrs. Smythe did have some of the loveliest things in the way of sofa-pillows. I counted nineteen, and all of them were beau- ties, She has better taste in draperies and pillows than she has in dress, for she had on a zouave blue crépe de chine, and she is too @ sallow to wear blue. But it was beautifully i) made, and it had eight of the loveliest yellow lace: rapdallions on the xe—""Yis. He shtruck fer more pay, thi skirt and three on the an’ now he's shtrikin’ shtone In th’ penitentiary.’ - Ay GOING TO WORK. [eae Foal ON STRIKE. y. Moike, ts Pat out on shtrike ?"* Pa ae Seta Farmer—"* Now, you work here until six o’clock."* Tramp—" How'll | know when it's six o'clock ? Faruer—" I'll blow a horn up at the house.”* ‘Tramp—' I'm afraid dat wouldn't wake me up. You'll have ter come an’ blow it in me ear." waist, which was made with a kind of blouse effect. Then there were little touches of yellow satin here and there in the trimmings, and a kind of sash effect in pale yellow silk. Then she had on some gold beads, and there were some tiny gold buckles on her slippers, and she had on—— Oh, I got a peek into the dining-room, and they have a perfectly elegant sideboard of real mahogany, and I counted mine cut- glass dishes on it and seven silver pieces, and all of them looked solid, but I couldn't be sure at a distance; and there was a centre-piece a yard across on the table, and it was worked in pale-pink asters—a beautiful thing. And there was a big cut-glass bowl, with daybreak carnations in it. I think they must be real nice people, for—— 1 wish you could see the rug in their back parlor! It never cost a cent less than three hundred dollars, and it had the loveliest tints of terra- cotta and wood-browns and greens in it, and the table-cover just matched the rug; and Mrs. Smythe had on four diamond rings and one of five pearls, and another cluster ring of diamonds, pearls and emeralds, and I'm sure they must be very, very nice people, and I had a lovely call.” mw. A SMALL boy out in Kansas is much given to correcting the faults of his younger sis- ter, She has a knack of making sharp rejoin- ders, and often turns his criticisms against him- self, At the dinner-table Jimmie commented on Margaret's table man- ners. “Nine years old!" he exclaimed, + and eat- ing like that !” “Eleven years old, he shtruck th’ boss, thin he shtruck a cop, She retorted, «+ and bué- 5 ting in like that 1" comicbooks.com