Judge, 1912-04-06 · page 9 of 28
Judge — April 6, 1912 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous editorial complaint about women's Easter fashion trends, illustrated by a stylized portrait of an elegant woman framed by lilies. The satire mocks the practice of using animal materials in women's clothing. The Kansas newspaper **Downs News** reported that rattlesnake skin would appear in upcoming fashions. Judge's writer sarcastically catalogs the absurd menagerie of animal-derived garments women already wear: silkworm fabric, sealskin, ostrich feathers, goatskin, whalebone, kidskin, horsehide, tortoiseshell, fish-scale, canary birds, clamshell buttons, dog fur, and camel hair. The point: women are walking "menageries" who wear virtually every creature imaginable, and adding rattlesnake merely completes the absurdity. The closing poem jokes that Miss Claire, while fair-looking, is really "past" her prime—a dated quip suggesting her elaborate animal-laden outfit can't hide her age.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Varmint mind HEN the Kansas editorial launches itself at a subject, pity that subject, for it is in for some ag- gressive handling. Some way or other, a report got into the sanctum of the Downs News that gloves, belts, and neck- ties of rattlesnake skin would show among the Easter fashions for women. Then—— We knew the poor rattlesnake would A LILY BUD. It was about the only varmint left that women didn’t wear. Think of a woman going arrayed in a silkworm dress, a sealskin sack, ostrich-feather hat, goatskin shoes, whalebone stays, kidskin gloves, horse hide belt, tortoise-shell comb, fish-scale trimmings, stuffed canary birds, clam- shell buttons, Spitz-dog muff, camel’s- mink-tail collarette, come to it sooner or later. hair underwear, Garments. alligator-hide purse, and now a rattle- snake necktie! Solomon in all his glory wasn’t such a menagerie as one of these and yet we love them, no matter what they wear. Charles Phelps Cushing, “Your friend, Miss Claire, is passing fair,"’ I to Kate, when we met last. s,’’ she agreed, ‘‘she is, indeed: In fact, I think she’s rather past.’’ comicbooks.com