Judge, 1911-09-16 · page 16 of 28
Judge — September 16, 1911 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous domestic story satirizing paternal hypocrisy and the masculine pretense around cigar-smoking. Mr. Gimp lectures his son Sammy about "smoking like a gentleman," claiming only cigars are proper while cigarettes are for "fools" and "dudes." He insists they smoke together boldly and openly. The joke: Mr. Gimp's bravado immediately collapses. While young Sammy puffs the cigar with ease, his father becomes violently ill—turning white, sweating, seeing stars, and eventually staggering away to presumably vomit. Sammy calmly continues smoking, utterly unimpressed by his father's distress. The satire targets masculine posturing: men lecturing about proper behavior while being unable to practice what they preach. It's also a gentle joke about nicotine sensitivity and the foolishness of forcing oneself to smoke for appearances' sake. The final panel shows Mrs. Gimp angrily demanding the cigar back, having caught on to the scheme's failure.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
When men don’t smoke cornsilk. we smoke we smoke— What do men smoke?"’ “Cigarettes,’’ said Sammy meekly. “Cigarettes!” cried Mr. Gimp. ‘Cigarettes! Fools smoke cigarettes! Dudes and _ idiots smoke cigarettes! What do men smoke?”’ ‘*Pipes,’’ ventured Sammy. “Faugh! Dirty pipes! Ital- jans and ditch diggers smoke pipes! What do gentlemen smoke ?"" “Cigars?” asked Sammy tremulously. “Certainly,’’ said Mr. Gimp. “Cigars. And if you are going to smoke, father wants you to smoke like a gentleman. Per- Perhaps, to you, tobacco is a deadly And it makes many haps you can’t smoke. poison. Perhaps it will make you sick. people sick.’” He took the two big, black cigars from his pocket. “Don't be a sneak, my son,’’ he said. ‘Don’t hide be- hind oak trees when you want to smoke. Come boldly and fearlessly to your father. If you want to smoke, we will both smoke. We will smoke together.”” He handed one of the cigars to Sammy. it, and then at Mr. Gimp. Mrs. Gimp trembled. drew her aside. “Stop that!’’ he whispered angrily. Sammy looked at Mr. Gimp “Don’t you see what I'll do? He will smoke. He will be sick, very sick. Never again will he want a cigar! Now, get us matches."’ Wiping her eyes, Mrs. Gimp brought matches. Mr. Gimp lighted his cigar and began to puff. Sammy put the big, black cigar in his mouth and light- ed it. He, too, be- gan to puff. He held his cigar as he saw his father hold and puffed at it daintily, as Mr. Gimp puffed at his. Suddenly Mr. Gimp uttered a sound that was like this— “Urck!'’ He had gagged. Sammy looked at his fa- ther. Mr. Gimp was as white as the side of the house. With big, thoughtful eyes Sammy smoked on. From time to time he flicked an ash from the end of his cigar, as he had seen men do. Great beads of A HINT TO MEN WITH PLIRTATIOUS WIVES. Passenger —“ TEN DOLLARS 18 AN OUTRAGEOUS PARE !” Taxi driver—* i YOU DON'T WANT TO PAY IT GET OUT AND WALK.” perspiration arose on Mr. Gimp’s pale brow. From time to time he cast a sidelong glance at Sammy. There were whole, long moments when Mr. Gimp took his cigar in his hand and stared sadly at the grass. The palms of his hands became damp and cold. Throbs of pain crossed his temples. He did not dare swallow, for fear of the consequences. Suddenly myriads of silver dots began revolv- ing rapidly before his eyes. Sammy puffed at his cigar and stared at his father with sur- prise. His father was the color of the underside of a frog. Suddenly Mr. Gimp arose. He staggered, holding one hand before him, and _tottered around the house. “Where's papa going?” askedSam- my, as he puffed gently at his cigar. “Never you mind where your father is going!" said Mrs. Gimp angrily. ‘‘Yougive me that cigar! THIS WILL RIVET THEIR WANDERING EYES. comicbooks.com