Judge, 1912-05-18 · page 3 of 24
Judge — May 18, 1912 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes women's elaborate spring hats through a portrait and accompanying verse. The illustration shows a woman in profile wearing an ornate hat decorated with pearls, plumes, buckles, and ribbons—typical of early 20th-century millinery excess. The poem mocks these extravagant creations, describing a hat that once belonged to a Spanish naval ship ("When Dewey sunk the Spanish ships"), now repurposed as women's fashion. The joke equates women's hats to salvaged military debris—absurdly oversized, ragged, and patched with lace and ribbons. This reflects contemporary satirical criticism of women's fashion, particularly the impractical, wasteful nature of elaborate hat decoration that dominated the era. The reference to Dewey suggests this is from around the Spanish-American War period (1898).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ss P RI N G A gorgeous enterprise of straw, An ancient derby out of style Of variegated colors gay, When Dewey sunk the Spanish ships, Adorned with buckles, plumes, and pins, With battered brim and dented crown, Bunched in a careless, wild ar- ray; And lining full of holes and rips; A rope of pearls that cost like sin, Once black, but now a brownish green, And lots of laces lying flat, A lid a tramp would cavil at, And rainbow ribbons strangely tied, A rusty, dusty, faded felt, O, that was wifey dear’s spring hat. O, that was hubby dear’s spring hat. comicbooks.com