Judge, 1910-04-30 · page 3 of 16
Judge — April 30, 1910 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the chaos of moving day in early 20th-century America. The top illustration depicts a moving van surrounded by frantic activity—workers juggling belongings, furniture toppling, items breaking—emphasizing how disruptive and accident-prone the moving process was. The article "Our Big Day" humorously catalogs the indignities of moving: losing personal items, tracking mud, breaking possessions, dealing with movers who seem incompetent. It compares the disruption to other misfortunes like divorce. The lower advertisement for "Rubberneck Moving Van Co." satirizes this chaos by suggesting people should "see the sights while you move"—implying the moving experience itself is spectacle enough. The illustration shows crowds gathered to watch the moving truck, treating it as public entertainment. The humor targets the universally frustrating experience of household relocation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OUR BIG DAY. (ater Walt Whitmanma long way after.) By ROSCOE GILMORE STOTT, that brought you and will probably track mud all over, and break the grand piano by letting it fall, and will place the heavy davenport upon the frail china closet. I SALUTE you, moving van, and the three burly wretches I salute you, too, you big, heavy-footed draft horses; and the bridle that keeps you inside the road, and the money you will probably bring that pirate crew who sit up on the front seat, drinking poor beer and cursing because we didn’t see fit to tip them after they'd robbed us right. This is our big day! (It's dead lucky to have one big day, when you can lose your one best toothbrush, collar buttons, shirts for the collar buttons, white vests you saved for summer, stove polish, doormat, alarm clock, and worn-out hammock. I say, it’s lucky—luckier than getting a divorce in Reno, Nevada.) ee This is our big day! Did you ever see a snail crawl or a mes- senger deliver a message on State Street in the village of Chicago? So move our helpers. They move slower than the plumber you have to entertain to get the job finished, slower than the downfall of Speaker Cannon, slower than the average magazine editor acts on a good piece of fiction. Farewell! For mercy’s sake, don’t dump the stuff on the pave- ment! Youdon’t get acent if you do. And watch out for that china closet! It was the only present from her folks that was worth shucks. Now, steady! Thank heavens, they’re off! THE CUT. Abrams—'* I see you have advertised a big cut in women’s fashionable dresses.” : Cohen—" Yes; but in der neck, not der price.”” SEE THE SIGHTS WHILE YOU Mav A SUGGESTION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE FOND OF MOVING. comicbooks.com