Judge, 1912-09-14 · page 6 of 24
Judge — September 14, 1912 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes tobacco advertising and consumption through three pieces: **"The Indian"** mocks the cigar-store Indian—a wooden statue used as storefront advertising for tobacconists. The poem's irony: this figure exists solely to promote cigars yet cannot smoke them. The joke plays on "Lo" (a generic term for Native Americans) and the absurdity of the statue's eternal, unfulfilled purpose. **"Where They Make It"** appears to be a brief advertisement or notice, likely referencing Pittsburgh's industrial prominence in tobacco manufacturing. **"The Girl with the Cigarette"** romanticizes a woman smoking, treating it as an elegant, desirable sight—reflecting early 20th-century attitudes when women's smoking was becoming fashionable but still somewhat scandalous. The narrator's admiration emphasizes the cigarette as accessory to feminine appeal. The page's overall title, "A Newspaper Puff," is a pun: a "puff" means both promotional advertising and the act of smoking. These pieces collectively critique how tobacco is marketed through imagery and social aspiration.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Indian. HE hardest lot it seems to me Can fall to any man Is that endured by Lo, the poor Cigar-store Indian! All day he holds a box of choice Havanas in the sun To tempt the passing throng, and yet He never samples one! Long cut and navy plug alike Are joys he must forego, Not e’en a little cigarette His wooden lips may know; But when his service as a sign Before the door is pas I mean to buy and burn him up, That he may smoke at last! Minna trvine A NEWSPAPER PUFF. peareen, > eee Za WHERE THEY MAKE IT. The World—* If it wasn't for Pittsburgh what would I do fora good old smoke?" “Do you know where the ball ground "' asked a stranger in the neighborhood. “Say, mister,"’ returned the kid, I know every knothole on the four sides of it.” The Girl with the Cigarette. She seemed so dainty where she sat There with a slender cigarette. Ah. she was well worth looking at! In fancy I behold her yet. She seemed sodainty, sitting there, A lovelier maid I ne’er shall see! With fingers that were slim and fair, She held the cigarette for me.