Judge, 1908-09-05 · page 7 of 16
Judge — September 5, 1908 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Jewish immigrant characters through ethnic caricature—a common (though offensive by modern standards) Judge magazine practice. The comic strips feature the "Cohen Brothers," clearly identified Jewish characters involved in domestic situations. The main narrative, "A Problem Tale," depicts Professor Cohen engaging in obsessive linguistic analysis of his girlfriend Susan's phrase "If you love me"—parsing which word carries emphasis to divine her true meaning. The satire targets intellectual pretension: the professor, despite his learning in etymology and philology, absurdly overthinks a simple romantic declaration rather than simply responding to it emotionally. The accompanying domestic vignettes mock Jewish family life through exaggerated scenarios. "The Original Three Cohen's Clothing Palace" (bottom) appears to be an advertisement. The humor relies on ethnic stereotyping combined with mockery of pedantic over-analysis—the professor's erudition becomes a liability rather than an asset.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AN EPISODE OF ‘THE THREE COHEN BROTHERS. something other than love. Is it thinkable that n question the sentiment I cherish for her? it. But there must be some meaning. Let me finish the analy js be on the final word, her rem: love m implica- tion that I, her promised husband, may love anoth- Perish the thought! Susan is the one woman in the world for me, as she has b Iready reli- ably informed—and yet this po doubt of my rity nay, my honesty! Shall 1 but, no! 1 must not judge hastily. “I must know definitely + Tact. The train of thought sto the professor got off and addr at * which is a direc sin ing at that point, sed himself to Miss 1 bey your pardon, an,’’ he said, with A PROBLEM considerable effort to be TALE. “will you be kind 6oyF You a ? | love me she edi , the professor listening with most alert attention, speaking rived an equal ‘The professor y to detect the slightest: shade of difference in the evenly balanced urt He rested his massive brow upon the index finger of his right hand for some time. * Twonder wha 3,"" he muttered to if, and ot beeame absorb volume before him, Susan, suppressed, plead- | Wg tone to N. Webster Wil- 1. thography, etymology, Te Ome whom se at ligne £ OREN _s0Re Cone. her troth; and her plight not the happ! owing to the professor's unstudied neglect of her * sat silent, sorrowful, su- for those philological perfluous. w. a. Lamrron. branches which he did study. AVOIDING TEMPTA- He looked up from TION. Tommy "Ma, 1 the book in which he was profoundly absorbed at the moment, and a met the y to § mini on my w vol x and he asked me if 1 perceptible frown of protest st this un ever went fishing on ds distur fitted Sunday.” solicit ss his pale and corrugated Mater si, j POSITIVELY | “And what did | — ONLY! ONLY!) ite” ‘ORIGINAL’! brow. 1 beg your pardon," he ng inquiringly at her his huge horn reading-sp al fel th me, Satan,’ and ran right “If you love me, Noah," she hind ed slowly, in the same ap- 2 pealing tone, He did not respond to this, but settled back in his chair, wrapped in the thoug by her words. He w the phrase which she had used in : etna, away from him."* I F wishes was tmobil expressing herself “If you love me— if you love m mentally, as if to get a firmer grasp upon it, “Um, let m If the emphasis is on the first word, . Ifyou love me," im- plying, doubt of my 3 an be no doubt that [ love her. at is not the pretation, Agi mphasis be on the nd word, her rem If you love ad Iam confronted by the possibility that there may be some other also who loves her. Is se to me? Has my beloved Susan permitted a rival to come betwee er! Impossible! Ridiculous! Again, if the emphasis be on the third word, her remark becomes, ‘If you lore me," and she implies by that that my feeling for her is 5. int comicbooks.com