Judge, 1910-02-12 · page 11 of 16
Judge — February 12, 1910 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects Valentine's Day humor and verses typical of late 19th/early 20th-century satirical magazines. **Main Content:** - Multiple sentimental Valentine poems in earnest style, mocking their overwrought romanticism - "Cross Purposes" joke: the humor lies in the paradox that sentimental valentines fail—girls laugh at them, yet men avoid sending them - "Give a Dog a Bad Name" cartoon: A white child watching a Black porter carry a coal-dusty towel assumes the dust is the man's skin "coming off"—racist humor based on the period's pseudoscientific color anxiety - "It Seems So" sketch: dark humor about a child mistaking coal dust on a towel for the porter's skin - Bottom section includes nostalgic verses comparing youthful romance to aging, and a dialect joke about Congress being as inactive as a sleeping man **Context:** The racist cartoon reflects the casual prejudice typical of Judge's era. The Valentine jokes target sentimental excess—a perennial target of satirical magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A VALENTINE Bs E KIER VALENTINE 1 waft to you; In ballad form, you see, Its graces may, alas! be few, But with my dearest hopes ‘tis fraught. If it be lame in theme or plot, Condemn me, for the fault is mine; But pity my unhappy lot— Oh, please accept my valentine! There may be others, it is true, That please your fancy and have not Such faults as mine present to view. The laden postman may have brought A thousand others all unsought, \ Each voicing hope in every line; WEL But let this touch a tender spot— ot Mile, Oh, please accept my valentine! Swe, wif Ge If there be any rhyme askew Or any ti” that lacks a dot, O'erlook the fault, I prythee, do, For I have done my best, God wot! In love's sweet service men have fought, But more have battled, I opine, For fuel needed ‘neath the pot— Oh, please accept my valentine! L'ENVOI. Sir, I m enraptured by the thought ‘That on your page my name may shine; Wherefore this hopeful parting shot— Oh, please accept my valentine! CROSS PURPOSES. Swift—" Do you mean to send any valentines this year?”” Smith—*No. Valentines always miss their object. A girl is almost sure to laugh at the sentimental ones and cry GIVE A DOG A BAD NAME. : saat * Now, Ezra, you be mighty keerful w' git ity. ‘The pa- about the:eomies: pets inal te toe tellin of oem bein’ arresel ur bein drunk and di ain COMIC A ALENTING. orderly. I know you never teh en er but you do be power- W® snd wonter whether it can'be us, IT SEEMS 50. Although we know that once a year HE little son of the family happened to be idling his time in *' Friends show us up just as they see us. the kitchen when the colored porter came up out of the cel- lar, where he had been shoveling coal into the heater, grasped the white towel hanging on the door, and passed into the hall. For an instant the youth gazed awe-struck at the coal-dust impressions left on the towel, then yelled after the retreating negro, “Oh, Sam, your color’s coming off 1" A VALENTINE, By Me LANDBURGH WILSON. LONG days ano, In childhood spent, A valentine To you I sent: “The rose is red, The violet blue, Sugar is sweet, ‘And go are you.’” Destroying years May change the view, But still my heart To you is true. When roses fade, And violets, too, Sugar is sand, ‘And go are you. A DISTINCTION. “OUT OF THE MOUTH OF — Uncle Henry—** Back from Wash- ** You see that fat man with th’ big round stomach ?"* ington, Si? See Congress in action? “Yes: what about him? Looks like a funny valentine."* Unele Silas—*Naw; Lonly saw 'em ** Well, he shipped on th’ xce th’ other day and fell on his stomach, and before he could get uo . sian he had rocked himself to sleep."* in session. comicbooks.com