Judge, 1910-12-17 · page 11 of 24
Judge — December 17, 1910 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the **cost of living crisis** affecting early 20th-century America. Multiple pieces target economic hardship: The opening anecdote mocks how pervasive financial anxiety had become—a Chicago schoolgirl confuses "seaport" with "support," saying families struggle to "seaport a large family" because "everything is so high." "A Dark Outlook" depicts a middle-class man cataloging devastating lifestyle losses: cheaper housing, daughters removed from boarding school, sons working instead of attending college, wives doing housework instead of hiring help. His final despair—potentially losing the automobile—captures how economic pressure threatened middle-class status symbols. Other items reinforce the theme: "In the Wee Sma' Hours" jokes that wealthy people eat only "little birds" due to high costs; "How Times Have Changed" contrasts old wisdom ("Money makes the mare go") with modern reality (motors consume the money). The page uses humor to process genuine economic anxiety among Judge's likely middle and upper-class readership, making light of serious financial pressures while validating audience concerns about changing living standards.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Result of the Cost of Living. N A GRAMMAR school in one of the suburbs of Chicago recently the third- grade children we re being instructed in matters pertaining to physiogra- phy, and the teacher, having explained what a seaport was, requested a little girl to construct a sentence containing that word. Being blessed with six brothers ard sisters, the small maiden had doubtless heard many complaints about the cost of living. Her construction of the sentence asked for by the teacher was as follows: “Everything is so high that it is a lot of trouble to seaport a large family.”” The Suffragette. (With opologies to the Purple Cove.) I NEVER saw a suffragette— I never want to see one. 'Twould be a frightful sight; and, yet, I'd rather see than be one. Johnnie Was Literal. ITTLE Johnnie was discovered in the library, busily snipping away at the open dictionary. “‘Johnnie,"’ asked his father, ‘‘what in the world are you doing?” “You see, father,’’ answered the bright and shining light of the household, ‘‘to-day at school the teacher said there was no such word as ‘fail,’ and so I'm cutting it out of the dic- tionary.”” Father Goose. B*. BABY bunting, Mamma’s title hunting. She'll wed a lord from o’er the sea And stay in the nobility. Accent on the Box. Wife—‘John, wasn’t that a good box of cigars I gave you on Christmas?"’ Husband—*'I never saw a bet- ter box, my dear.’’ IN THE WEE SMA’ HOURS. “Say, Bill, jest see them nobs eatin’ nothin’ but little birds."" “Yep. That's because of the high cost of livia’. “ PRIDE GOETH BEFORE DESTRUCTION.” Epigrams Recast. LL THE world loves a lover —except her father. An honest man’s the noblest work of Ged —but most of us are self-made. “ROUGH ON RATS." Turkey—"" Hello, old crow! don't you envy me? Iam beautiful, plump, live on the fat of the land, and am admired by all."’ Crow—" That's all very good ; but you are not the first one to lose his head for that very reason.” My kingdom for a horse —-when the gaso- line tank is empty ten miles away from town, 'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have—eloped with your stenographer. Lov> laughs at locksmiths—whose locks are m-rely wedlock. How Times Have Changed. RANDFATHER used to say, “Money makes the mare go.”* But in the present day Motors make the ‘‘mon’’ go. No Use for College Education. Willis—‘ Why don’t you put that college son of yours at a trade?’’ Gillis (sadly )—** What could I trade him for?’’ They can't afford turkey.” A Dark Outlook. 66"HE COST of living is something terrible !"" “T know it. A man on a sal- ary has no chance at all any more. I took-a cneaper house last spring, we've had to take our daughter out of boarding school, instead of sending our son to college we've had to let him go to work in an office, and my wife has had to go to doing her own housework. Why, con- found it! if things don’t im- prove pretty soon, we'll have to give up our automobile!” Modesty. Lady (standing on window ledge of burning building about to cave in, to firemen below) — “You either tell those naughty men down there to shut their eyes or I'll jump head first.”’ BOBBY GRAFTER. Bobby Grafter ’s gone to sea, Process servers did he flee. Far away he'll seek safe-ty, Foxey Bobby Grafter. comicbooks.com