Judge, 1912-01-27 · page 9 of 24
Judge — January 27, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous domestic scene satirizing the friction between mothers and boys at bedtime. The illustration shows a Russian soldier (labeled "RUSSIA" on his cap) trudging through snow toward a distant city, seemingly exhausted. The joke plays on the caption: "Those Boys—But What Would Home Be Without Them?" The accompanying text presents a mother's exasperated monologue about her son Willie's bedtime procrastination—endless excuses about studying, complaints about the clock, resistance to washing hands, and messiness. The visual metaphor suggests that boys are so difficult and exhausting that even a hardened soldier enduring harsh winter conditions appears preferable. The satire gently mocks both maternal exasperation and boyish stubbornness as universal domestic struggles. This reflects early-20th-century attitudes about gender roles and child discipline, presenting mothers' authority and boys' resistance as inevitable, humorous domestic theater rather than serious conflict.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
= FlonRt= THE LATEST THINGS IN FURS—PERSIAN LAMB. Those Boys—But What Would Home Be Without Them? His Mother Speaks: ILLIE, will you just look at that clock? You have looked at it? Then why don’t you get ready for bed? You know that you must always be in bed by half-past eight. I don’t care if Ted Thomas does sit up until nine. Half-past eight is your bedtime and— Stop that muttering! You know that I have told you many times not to mutter and-— No, you cannot sit up to study your home lesson! Strange that you never think of your home lesson until your bedtime! You will have time to By J. L. HARBOUR, study it in the morning if you get up early. Yes, you will! No, the clock is not half an hour fast! I had your father set it by his watch this very morning. No, you can’t just finish that story. You have had the whole evening in which to read and study, and you have done nothing but dawdle. Now you are very eager to read and study, aren't you? I don't care anything about what other boys do, for— If you do not stop that muttering, I shall call your father! Yes, you will care! And I want you to wash your hands good before you go to bed. When did you wash them? No, it isn’t only sissy-boys who have clean hands. Willie Smythe, will you just bear in mind that it is your mother to whom you are speaking? Yes, you act as if you knew it! You will have cause to remember it if I call your father. He isn’t your mother, as you very well know. Don’t you be impertinent! That is one thing your mother will not put up with, as I have told you a hun- dred times! Why don’t you take off your shoes? You pick up that necktie! The idea of flinging things around the comicbooks.com