Judge, 1911-05-06 · page 5 of 28
Judge — May 6, 1911 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The page contains two separate satirical pieces from *Judge* magazine: **Top section ("JUDGE")**: A visual pun showing silhouetted figures representing the word "JUDGE," with a scriptural reference mocking the harem skirt fashion trend—likely early 1910s. The satire criticizes women's revealing clothing as immodest. **Bottom section**: Two humorous stories. "Improving the Service" mocks Hudson Tunnel MacDoo's impatience waiting by the River Styx for Charon's ferry. "The Easiest Way" jokes about someone's elopement via fire escape. The illustration depicts a rural scene with a bridge and creek, captioning a man's comment that the situation "might have been a lot worse. That creek's full of soft water"—apparently implying drowning would have been preferable to his current predicament. The humor relies on period-specific references and wordplay that require historical context.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SCRIPTURAL ALLUSIONS TO THE HAREM SKIRT. “ And being found in fashion as a man.""—Phillipians, 2: 8. Improving the Service. R. HUDSON TUNNEL McADOO had retired from earth and was waiting on the shores of the River Styx for Charon and his ferryboat. There was a long wait and the active New Yorker became impatient. “By heck!’’ he exclaimed, stamp- ing up and down the beach. ‘‘As soon as I get settled I'll hustle around among these millionaires down here and we'll have a tunnel under this river that will put Charon’s doggoned old ferryboat out of commission in about two minutes."’ “And I will walk at liberty.""— Psalm 179 : 45. The Easiest Way. “THEY tell me that Burns eloped with an old flame.”’ “Yes, that’s what he did.’” “Well, that surely isa hot one! How did he do it?”” “The natural way—down the fire Man on the bridge—" CHEER UP, MY FRIEND, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE, THAT CREEK'S PULL. OP SOPT WATER.” comicbooks.com