Judge, 1908-12-05 · page 42 of 44
Judge — December 5, 1908 — page 42: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily **advertising**, with a small satirical story at the top left. ## Main Content: "The Mouse and the Meter" The cartoon satirizes obsessive meter-reading. A man complains to a gas company about his meter, convinced a mouse has entered it and caused excessive charges. He describes the meter "whirling madly about at all times" and blames the rodent for his bills. The gas company's response (implied through his frustrated letters) treats his complaint seriously but incredulously. **The satire**: This mocks both consumer paranoia about utility companies and the companies' patronizing responses to legitimate concerns about billing accuracy. The absurdity—blaming a mouse for meter malfunction—lampoons how consumers grasped for explanations when faced with unexpectedly high bills. ## Surrounding Advertisements The page features typical early-1900s patent medicines and dubious products: weight-gain treatments ("Tissue Builder"), hair restoration, liquor sales, revolver advertisements, and Keeley Institute ads promoting cure for "liquor and drug using"—reflecting period attitudes toward addiction as treatable illness. The overall tone reflects 1907 consumer culture anxieties and skepticism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
How Thin People The Mouse and the Meter. Can Get Fat, Frees Wii oe icine ee pet the meter cares to put upon me, acting Startling Effect of New Discovery — fre Which Puts Flesh on Thin People, ite the aver Increases Weight and Per- th vtoctonate fects the Figure. dent. /ER JOHNSON SE Safoty Automatic REVOLVER ~s pipe. think it invaded the meter I: month, when my wife observed all three one time, mouse'’s début Hollars the first day. Since di down to real work, all former poeta wheel excessive: | [f It is not only |} but, ec | e meter, Prove It by Sending Coupon Below for a 50c. Package, Free. dials whirling: madl cientifie treatment ha ven nit has trai nd hourly | Probably it turns t ca ly in: seekin, tough on int of peice it / Fitchburg, Mass. mpure, Germany: Pickhaben 4 THN, wedeart Conngay Siasket Suet ry truly, Witstam Sincmone. April tith, 107. Es suggest, in re is imp uid not get inte meter nd yas would surcly k ‘ery truly, mist piace a aa, ECURED 19 cases celebrated — , April 241, 1907. Bridgeport Monongahela Pure Rye BRANK Gast rime wt Whiskey bottled in bond, nearly T In reply to your ob eight years old--pure, palatable, per- LOM roa aay Eee fect. Makes a splendid present. Send $20 for case of 12 full quarts (plain case if desired) f. 0. b. distillery. W. E. PaLmMer, South BROWNSVILLE, Pa. wosssily us it is Vit, tight, or or not the rodent » now that the x is sul the Remarkable Tissue Builder, Up Cases Like This in Remarkably Quick Time. an progress: demar 1 the wheels for two dollars My wi Finest From Lrinss [slé powerful inducer of nutrition, in growth, makes perfect th ia is a pi wt that t healthy Meter ix not taken out notify the Humane Sov cht to torture: th y work EARN BIC SALARIES |befam $1,000 to $10,000 a year and rstan Fatylish withany- 0 I have a long 3 wnup for the pres In conjunction to yiv- 1 proceedings of your of hold it tw It Has the True Flavor If you get Comber Irish Whiskey you get a "treat," even if you pay for it. 1 the libe the mouse, sed, 1007, the | a” Why | WILLIAM SINGMORE, iving facte whieh | My dear sir—We on below chi pur meter, per aman OOL OF APPLIED ART (Founded 1898.) Nes Gallery Five Arts, bate Creek, cb. mecoeteett HENRY LINDENMEYR & SONS. Wizard Repeating (gamed = [LIQUID PisToL VESEY Cy Motion Pictures DO EX PEIENCE NEC For Liquor and Drug Using A scientific temedy which has been skillfully ‘Five Gent Theatres 4 Milles and succesfully ad by medical specialists for the past 2B. year {Dearborn tne Cl Asem Sup eae Sac At the following Keeley Institutes : | FOR g MEN. OF BRAINS YGARS |-MADE AT KEY WEST, comicbooks.com