Judge, 1909-04-03 · page 7 of 16
Judge — April 3, 1909 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Main Cartoon - "Extend the Forestry Department":** This satirizes the American obsession with genealogy and family lineage during the early 20th century. The text addresses Gifford Pinchot (actual head of the U.S. Forest Service) with tongue-in-cheek irony: just as he manages forests, someone should manage America's "family trees"—protecting inherited aristocratic bloodlines from corruption. The satire targets the pretentious genealogy-tasters who overcultivate "visible ornamental portions" (social status) while the trunk (actual character) becomes weak. References to "wild oats," "merry widows' weeds," and corruption suggest the nouveaux riche and morally questionable newly wealthy are contaminating old-money pedigrees. The "genealogical trees from the Revolutionary War" are portrayed as damaged beyond repair—mocking Americans' reverence for colonial ancestry. **Secondary Content:** "The Servant Problem, Plus" jokes about domestic servants demanding higher wages because modern appliances (electric cooking, vacuum cleaners, intercoms) supposedly require "scientific expert" knowledge, not mere "kitchen mechanic" work—satirizing both inflated servant expectations and employers' reluctance to pay for skilled labor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
EXTEND THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT. HE ATTENTION of Mr. Gifford chot, who has performed such nota- ble service in the forestry depart- ment, might well be directed to a department of forestry which, while not exactly neglected, h been left to the haphazards of dil- ettantes—that of the protection and propagation of our family tree This is an entirely different s from the exposition of family skel- etons, which the yellow journals seem able to take care of without aid from the government. This is a country of rare lineage and well-colored tory, with its roots firmly imbedded in the rich alluvial soil of revolutionary heroism, initiative and entreprencur. From Columbus clear down (or up?) to Roosevelt, some- thing has been doing nearly all the time with hardly an entre-acte for shifting scenes or changing tights. Such conditions make for healthy and sturdy growth, if kept free from the devastating influences of wild oats, merry widows’ weeds, new-rich rankness, political graft- ing, culture media, radical conservatism, and conservative Furthermore, there is a tendency among carel genealogy-tasters to overcultivate the flowers and the fol age—that is, the visible ornamental portions of the growth and otherwise make the branches too overbearing for the ofttimes all too slender trunk. If the forestry experts deem that the crop of genealog- ical trees from the Revolutionary War are too far gone to redeem, at least they can guide and nurture those just THE BALLET DANCER. Surely dy charm ‘On this point make And she vowed a deep imp On dear Johnny's heart to make. sprouting from the seeds sown in the glamour and pensions of the war with Spain. ‘These are yet but twigs which have not thrown out branches or been propped and guy-roped by historians and biographers. The method of research should, of course, be a posteriori. WLLas 0, 2oNes THE SERVANT PROBLEM, PLUS. 66 PUT,” says the lady of the house to the applicant, “* you really should not ask such high wages from me, when you consider the conveniences with which my house is equipped—electric cooking range, electric washing and iron- ing machines, vacuum sweepers and dusters, pneumatic parcel carr! IN ‘THE SAME BOAT. and to all floors and rooms, ‘phones and annunciators in each room, sanitary , where do wall and floor finishes, filtered air, filtered water, antiseptic refrigerator" “Yes, mum," interrupts the applicant; ‘‘ but the likes of you ought to know that a scientific expert draws a lot more money than a kitchen mechanic."” rs from First hilarious individual—"* Sha you @ ‘ond hilarious individual—* | dunno, rit, Inlarious individual — shake. Let's yo comicbooks.com