Judge, 1911-12-16 · page 9 of 24
Judge — December 16, 1911 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* presents a satirical grid of "bubbles"—reflecting spheres showing different social types and their Christmas gift-giving fantasies. Each bubble depicts what that person dreams of receiving or becoming. The nine character types—Policeman, Chorus Girl, Prize Fighter, Suffragette, Small Boy, Old Man, Bachelor, Married Man, and Artist—represent cross-sections of American society. The satire lies in the contrast between each figure's mundane reality (shown in caricature below) and their idealized bubble-reflection above. The accompanying poem by Lida Keck Wiggins parodies Rudyard Kipling's "L'Envoi," offering mock-serious moralizing about Christmas giving. The humor derives from deflating sentimental Victorian gift-giving rhetoric while suggesting each type harbors absurdly specific desires—the suffragette dreams of voting rights, the chorus girl of respectability, etc. This is social satire through wish-fulfillment fantasy, gently mocking contemporary American types and their aspirations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SUFFRAGETTE BACHELOR, au y WHEN earth's last present is posted and the ink is blotted and dried, When the Christmas roses have faded and the Christmas holly has died, We shall rest, and, faith! we shall need it—lie down for an eon or two, ll the Master of Christmas giving shall set us to work anew. BUBBLES L’Envoi of Christmas Givers. (With profound salaams to Redyard Kipling.) By LIDA KECK WIGGINS. And those who gave well shall be happy ; they shall sit in a rocking chair; They shall 'broider a cherub’s garments with flosses of angels’ hair. They shall find real friends to give to— seraphim, martyrs, and all; They shall fill up a million’ stockings hung over a garden wall. ARTIST. OK as And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame; And no one shall give for glory, and no one shall give for fame. But each for the joy of the giving, and each with a soul sincere, Will give the thing he holds precious to the friend that is really dear! comicbooks.com