Judge, 1910-05-07 · page 4 of 16
Judge — May 7, 1910 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes married men's flirtation habits. The main article criticizes men who flirt with young women despite being married, arguing the practice is widespread and problematic. The central cartoon "Throw the Light on All Rings" depicts a woman using a searchlight to examine rings on men's hands—literally exposing married men attempting to hide their marital status through deception (removing or concealing their wedding rings). The satire suggests this is a common scheme. The piece proposes a solution: a women's organization requiring husbands to visibly wear plain gold wedding bands to prevent flirtation. The humor targets both wayward married men and the social problem of marital infidelity, presenting the ring-wearing mandate as humorous but also addressing genuine social concern about male behavior during this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A RIVALRY OF THE SEXES. EN DO ridiculous things sometimes, especially if they are widowers 5 living at Greenwich, ie = Conn, Theirs is the distinction of possessing a Widowers’ Social Club, whose main tenet is that any member of the club who mar- ries shall provide a dinner for all the other members. We have heard of bachelor clubs with such silly provisions, but from wi owers the world expects more along some lines than from bachelors. First of all, these once married men ought to under- stand that their club is an illegal institu- tion. On appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, it would be stripped of — ALWAYS WITH HIM its charter and every member heavily fined. Its corner-stone is a contract in restraint of marriage, and therefore unen- forceable. In the second place, its penalty is either wholly inadequate as deterrent or punishment, or absolutely unnecessary. What is one dinner to a widower whose heart has been pierced the second time and who is bent on hearing wedding bells ring again? To one in such a state of mind, a dinner for his fellow-clubmen every day in the year would hold no ter- rors. For those wid- owers, on the contra- ry, whose fortune was to be unfortu- nate in their first matrimonial venture, the penalty of fur- nishing a single din- ner to the other members of the club would be altogether larger than need be to prevent a repeti- tion of the experi- ence. JupGe must confess that the news FAN NUMBER PUBLISHED BY LESLIE-JUDGE COMPANY Beusswice Bunoinc, 225 Frtw Avesut, New Yor Cane aceness, Tee, 422 tao 408 Sovane John her, President. Reuben P. Sleicher, See'y. Arthur Terry, Treasurer. James Melvin Lee, Managing Editor. Grant E. Hamilton, Art) Editor. cided slump in the opinion of the wisdom and common sense of the stronger sex. But if the male sex is ridiculous on oc- n, the opposite sex is silly at times. Several ladies belonging to the most ex- clusive social circle of greater Pittsburgh have formed a body corporate, whose sole purpose is to prevent their husbands from flirting with young girls, by the original method of compelling the aforesaid hub- bies to wear a wedding ring. The leader of the movement, with a feeling of wis- dom that would do credit to the Queen of Sheba, says, ‘We believe that young girls will not flirt with married men if they know the men are married. Eight- een cf us have agreed to ask our husbands to wear a plain gold band ring as a token of their being married, and we hope the custom will become universal.” To use the terminology of one of the popular schools of present-day philosophy, the remedy here presented for the abuses of this freak organi- zation caused a de- “THROW THE LIGHT ON ALL RINGS.” of flirtation is not ‘ pragmatic’ won't work. The object is to prevent young girls from flirting with any repre- sentative of the opposite sex whom on close scrutiny they shall find to be mar- ried. Commendable as this seems to be, it does not strike at the root of the trou- ble, either in the case of the girls or of the married men. It is not designed to cure young girls of the flirting habit, but solely to check flirting with a certain class, those who wear upon their hands the badge of the wedded state. So far as the men themselves are concerned, it is even more futile. There is nothing in the plan to make bright eyes less bright ora smiling face less attractive. It does not aim, in the least, to change the dis position of the married man to flirt. It ply attempts to limit the field of oper- ations, to make flirting a finer art on his part, a more hazardous undertaking. But so long as his heart is not changed, so long as he retains the desire to flirt, 80 long as he has a glove or a pocket ora dozen other means to hide the telltale gold band, the evil will go on unabated. In every sense of the word, the plan of- fered is a superficial makeshift. Endless and unjust confusion likewise would fol- low in its train, for just the other day we met a confirmed bachelor who always wears a plain gold band. Jupce would suggest that every woman make herself so attractive in the eyes of her husband that he will have eyes for no one else. Then one wedding ring will be sufficient for every family. PEN-POINTS. TAX on luxuries would include one on bachelors. One may love his neighbor and still keep the line fence in good repair. A woman's secret will be found in her charm, a man's in his check book. comicbooks.com