Judge, 1907-12-28 · page 6 of 17
Judge — December 28, 1907 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical short jokes and cartoons typical of early-20th-century American humor: **"Buffeted"** mocks class anxiety—a man too poor to afford quality cigars but too refined to smoke cheap ones, trapped by social pretension. **"The Half-Starved Man"** satirizes upper-class women's performative sympathy. Mrs. Smartface waxes eloquent about a poor family's struggles, revealing the man is actually her church's preacher—implying her concern is shallow and disconnected from reality. **"Profitable"** jokes about a customer's poor math or deliberate con: buying a five-cent phone call with a twenty-dollar bill. **"Suited"** pokes fun at an old, unreliable streetcar system in Tennessee that literally overshoots stops. **"The Wrong Belle"** plays on "engagement ring" slang—the woman wears a ring from a *previous* engagement, hinting at relationship instability. The cartoons employ gentle irony targeting social hypocrisy, economic absurdity, and romantic mishaps rather than hard political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BUFFETED. ALAS! what hopeless slaves of fate we are! The quandary he was in was such a sad one— He was too poor to buy a good cigar “And too refined by far to smoke a bad one. THE HALF-STARVED MAN. 46(QQH. WHAT a poor, halfstarved-looking man!” said Mrs. Ever- green to Mrs. Smartface, with whom she was spending a fort- night's visit. “Yes, Isn't he a sympathetic sight?" replied Mrs. Smartface. « Every time I think of him my heart fairly bleeds. He is so terribly poor, and hasn't enough money to buy a change of clothes with the seasons, And then he has such a hard time in life! He has five chil- dren—just think of it !—five children to educate and bring up in the world. Three of them are now attending the public schools. Of course he has to keep them nicely dressed. And then his oldest daughter is about ready to go to boarding-school, but he will never be able to send her. The poor thing hasn't any money, you know. His wife toils day and night to keep the little ones looking nice, too. He A NEW-YEAR WISH. “ T wish you may be married before the year is out," He whispered. "Twas a risky thing to do! “ How queer!” the maiden answered with a pretty little pout. “J was wishing just that very thing for you!” AN IMPORTANT ITEM. seTHIS scheme of life,” said a young lady to a well-known doctor of philosophy, “seems hardly worth while. On the whole, { have come to the conclusion that the game is not worth the candle.” “ That depends—that depends !" and the gray-haired sage shook his head. “Upon what ?* “That depends upon what you want to do by candle-light.” PROFITABLE. THE KIND THAT DON’T BEHAVE. How's business, Frank ?"* , . : . ent Started off fine this morning. A fellow bought a five-cent ‘phone- Alice —" W's a fine thing to have good eye . call and asked me to take it out of a twenty-dollar bill."” Alicia—« Yes ; but it’s lots better to have naughty ones.” is a very ambitious man, especially for his chil- dren, and wants to give them all fine educations. But what chance have they? You can see: by his looks. His wife does all of her own cooking for that large family. Of course, I suppose he buys them plenty of food, because he has to keep his children healthy and strong, especially those that are studying ; but his life is one long struggle against adversity "—— « Who is the man?” asked Mrs. Evergreen, interrupting. “Don't you know? He's the preacher of our church.” youn w. we mexLy, SUITED. A TRACTION company in a Tennessee town is still using the cars bought for their line when it was constructed—some fifteen years ago; Naturally the shaky old cars cause much disgust to those who have to ride in them. A merchant of the town was particularly vexed recently when: the motorman ran his car half a block past him before stopping. As he ran to catch it he yelled out, “Can't you even stop your. bloomin:: old THE WRONG BELLE. freight-train on the corner 2?” hear that you proposed to Miss Fllertleigh and then backed out of it. “This is no freight-train,” replied the con- cj Loney tons “Yes her Volos bad « queer ring 16.105, ductor; “it's a cattle-car. Aboard!" “* A sort of ‘ previous-engagement’ ring.” comicbooks.com