Judge, 1912-03-09 · page 15 of 24
Judge — March 9, 1912 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical biographical sketch of Napoleon Bonaparte, presented as humorous "American Unrest." The cartoon depicts figures orbiting a globe, representing Napoleon's military campaigns. The satire mocks Napoleon through absurdist humor: his childhood "scientific scrapping" (bullying), his world-conquering ambitions, his famous pose (triangular hat, far-away look), and—crucially—his defeat at Waterloo, casually mentioned as a "little misunderstanding at a small station." The final joke, about Broadway restaurants, appears unrelated to Napoleon and may be a standard Judge-magazine quip about contemporary American consumer culture. The "American Unrest" headline likely connects Napoleon's ambitions to anxieties about American political or social upheaval at the time of publication, though the exact historical context remains unclear without a date.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Bon 'R. BONAPARTE celebrated his ini- tial birthday at Ajaccio, Corsica, in 1769. He passed the day quietly in his own home, making friends with the family, faces at the nurse, and plans for the future. Being somewhat poor, he had little to spend in his early days except his youth, and this he did lavishly. At the tender age of ten, he was sent to a school where scientific scrapping was the initial num- ber on the curriculum. Here he amused himself by standing the other pupils in a row and knocking them over, as one does dominoes. Tiring of this quiet life, he became an officer in the regular army, and one day, in a moment of en- thusiasm, decided to conquer the world. This occupation kept him busy most of AMERICAN UNREST. aparte—Napoleon. spent his time pleasantly until he had @ little misunderstanding at a small sta- tion on a branch line called Waterloo. his time and he had little opportunity for exercise. His only recreations were posing for his photograph in a triangular hat and a far-away look and sighing for more worlds to conquer. He occasionally spent a week-end crossing the Alps and became very ex- pert at it. Being small of stature, he was able to jump from Alp to Alp with agility. Mr. Bonaparte was received with ovations wherever he went, and This changed his plans entirely. His family physician sent him to a summer resort for a vacation; but finding the place infested with mosquitoes, knock- ers, and gossip, he hurried back to the city. Shortly after his return he was. arrested for fighting without a license and sent up to do time on the island. Here he spent the hours gazing out over the sea with folded arms and hunting through his pocket for his return ticket. A Broadway restaurant is a place where people go who are not hungry, to eat things they don’t like, for which they pay prices they can’t afford. : comicbooks.com