Judge, 1911-03-25 · page 7 of 30
Judge — March 25, 1911 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the emerging women's club movement of the early 20th century, which was reshaping American social and political life. The article, by Terrell Love Holliday, mocks club women through exaggerated contradictions: they claim broad influence over society yet waste time on trivial decisions like electing presidents; they preach morality to others while their own families ignore their teachings; they advise the poor on cooking fancy dishes while their own household staff fails. The satire's core joke appears in the final exchanges: men dismiss women's clubs as harmless ("a little switch"), but the woman's response invokes the acorn metaphor—suggesting small things grow into mighty forces. The photograph captioned "Smoke Just Before the Fire" likely illustrates this tension humorously. The piece reflects anxious male attitudes toward women gaining organizational power and public voice during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SAA ‘CLUB NUMBER: The Woman’s Club—Is It a Big Stick or Only a Little Switch? Y HER decision on \, these, a few of the re momentous questions q now before her, shall ” we know the answer: How to induce an American princess to trade her ‘‘coffin tacks’’ for a pipe like grandmother used to smoke? Shall we sacrifice our button-up-the- back gowns or put baby on the bottle? Shall we enter the uplift movement and grow fat or climb the stairs and keep our waist measure down? Shall we take our toddy off the bar or continue to rebuild our run-down con- stitutions with the bottle of patent medicine on the bathroom shelf? By TERRELL LOVE HOLLIDAY Shall we fight affinity with affinity or stick to Reno and conventional methods? The club woman's influence is felt in every walk of life, saith the club woman. Yea. She teacheth Tottie Triptoes the wickedness of cussing the property men, and her son teacheth the neighbor- hood boys how to swear. She initiateth the slum housekeeper into the mysteries of preparing palatable dishes from left-over turkey and truffles, while her husband endeavoreth to in- struct a green cook how to convert the good provisions he buyeth into some- thing fit to eat. But it requireth three meetings to SMOKE JUST BEFORE THE FIRE." elect a club president. And member buryeth the hatpin to the hilt in mem- ber. And the minority secedeth, open- ing handsomer club-rooms than the old club ever had. The woman’s club, saith the low-brow as he reacheth for the biscuit plate, is a rolling pin. It cracketh no skulls, saith the high- brow. Yet his mind busyeth itself try- ing to invent a head guard. The woman's club is only a little switch for tanning Johnny’s jacket, snickereth man. And woman answereth, A little switch is many times taller than the small acorn. And remember how the acorn grew. comicbooks.com