Judge, 1907-12-07 · page 18 of 48
Judge — December 7, 1907 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a nine-panel comic strip satirizing male incompetence and the impossible expectations of domestic life. "Si Lazybones" is the protagonist, a hapless character who ventures into the woods to cut a Christmas tree. The humor follows a predictable arc: Si repeatedly misjudges the tree's size, complaining it's either too large or too small, struggling mightily to transport it home through various mishaps—dragging it over fences, slipping, falling. He curses "women and children" for demanding such effort. The punchline is classic domestic satire: after all his exertion and complaints, his wife dismisses his efforts, calling the tree "measly" and too small—the opposite of his earlier concerns. The joke reflects early 20th-century gender dynamics: a man's incompetence contrasted with women's unreasonable demands, played for laughs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SI LAZYBONES GOES TO THE WOODS AFTER A CHRISTMAS-TREE WHICH HE IMAGINES GROWS VERY BIG BEFORE HE GETS IT HOME. a 2 1, Si—* "Tarnel women! What's the use of a Christmas-tree? I don't want to get too blg a one for I've got to carry ita long way. | guess this will be about right." 4. Si—"" I ought to have thought of this fence and got a small tree.”’ 7. Si—" No, I'll have to carry it after all; but I don't know as I'll ever get it home.” 2. Si—"" I'm afraid it’s too big, after all, for it tock an awful long time to cut it down, If It wasn't so much work I'd leave it and hunt a ‘smaller one." 5. Si—'* There it goes, and I'll have to do it all over again.” 8. Si—* Confound it! now I've slipped and it's fallen on me. What a fool I was to get a whole forest just to satisfy a lot of women and children.”* 3. Si—"" Just as | feared. tree twelve sizes too big. hardly carry it.” I've gone and cut a It's so heavy I can 6 Si—“1 guess I'll have to drag it. It's too heavy to lug any longer.” 9. Si—"" There—I've carried it all ""— Mrs Si—'Si Lazybones! Why did you bring home such a measly little tree as that?” comicbooks.com