Judge, 1908-12-05 · page 34 of 44
Judge — December 5, 1908 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a humorous poem-illustration about Christmas gift-giving anxieties. The central image shows two silhouetted figures examining wrapped presents beneath a Christmas tree, illustrated in an Art Nouveau style by Valerie Haller. The poem's narrator laments that while the tree is laden with gifts for family members (expensive smoking sets for father, jewelry for mother, watches for servants), the one gift he truly desires is absent from the tree—though the poem never explicitly states what it is. The mystery itself is the joke: the reader expects a profound revelation, but the humor lies in the anticlimax and the narrator's melodramatic pining for something unspecified. The bottom cartoon ("Her Friend's Opinion") is a separate joke about domestic temperament: a woman defends her "crank" husband as merely particular about rugs, while her friend suggests he's difficult even in situations where there's nothing to be particular about. Both pieces satirize middle-class anxieties and marital dynamics in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CAUGHT WITH ‘THE GOODS ON. THE MISSING GIFT. \ HIE SCENE is a vision de- y lightful, A glorious, wonderful sight ith its branches, as right- ful, All g A tre ming with tinsel and light, O'erladen with Christmas-ti treasure, But lacking allurement for me The gift that I'd prize beyond measure Is not on the tr A smoking set costly for father, For which he'll be grateful until He learns that for him is the bother OF meeting the following bill : Choice gifts for both friend and relation, But that which I’m longing to I note, with a sinking sensation, Is not on the tr A necklace of beauty for mother, In satin-lin 1 casket dis- A watch goes to ry Remembered are butler and maid; Ani also some presents I capture, But F: as a bitter d The gift that would surely « ture Is not on the tr rap- I mention my sorrow to Milly, A rt. the dusk, sit aj answers, ‘* How silly on tree for a rt Your wit must be slothfully sleep- ing, Or else you would know it to be, HER FRIEND'S OPINION, | “ My husband is a regular crank on rugs." My dear, you are too conservative. Your husband impresses me as being a regular crank even on bare floors.” comicbooks.com