Judge, 1911-09-16 · page 20 of 28
Judge — September 16, 1911 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous story satirizes overconfident parenting and masculine posturing. Mr. Gimp insists his son Sammy smoke cigars "like a gentleman" rather than sneaking around with cigarettes. He believes forcing the boy to smoke boldly with him will cure any future desire for tobacco. The joke: Mr. Gimp's plan backfires spectacularly. While lecturing about manly cigar-smoking, *he* becomes violently ill from the cigars, turning green and staggering away nauseous—while young Sammy calmly smokes without difficulty, leaving his father humiliated. The satire targets fathers who impose arbitrary "character-building" rules on their sons without considering consequences, and men who equate particular behaviors with manliness. Sammy's calm composure while his supposedly sophisticated father falls apart inverts the expected power dynamic. Secondary cartoons address taxi fare overcharging and wives' infidelity—unrelated social complaints typical of Judge's content.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
men don’t smoke cornsilk. When 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- ians and ditch diggers smoke pipes!) What do gentlemen “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- | haps you can’t smoke. Perhaps, to you, tobacco is a deadly || poison. Perhaps it will make you sick. And it makes many | “at ALL EVENTS.” 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 toSammy. Sammy looked at it, and then at Mr. Gimp. Mrs. Gimp trembled. Mr. Gimp drew her aside. ] “Stop that!’” he whispered angrily. ‘*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 his, 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 —" EN DOLLARS [8 AN OUTRAGEOUS PARE!” Taxi driver—" 1P 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 TiS WILL RIVET THEIR WANDERING EYES. 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?” asked Sam- my, as he puffed gently at his cigar. “Never you mind where your father is going!” said Mrs. Gimp angrily. ‘You give me that cigar! comicbooks.com