Judge, 1912-10-19 · page 7 of 24
Judge — October 19, 1912 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1910s-era piece satirizes the clash between Old World aristocratic etiquette and American casualness, specifically targeting exaggerated politeness at sporting events. **The Setup:** Jimson, a character known for excessive courtesy and gentlemanly deportment, attends a World Series game with a visiting British Countess interested in experiencing "real America." Rather than watching the game, Jimson ignores the action entirely to entertain her with elaborate social attention. **The Joke:** A foul ball strikes Jimson in the face because he's too absorbed in flirting with the Countess to pay attention to the game. The final punchline—that a ball park is "no place for polite conversation"—satirizes Jimson's inability to abandon social pretension even in inappropriate contexts. **The Satire:** The piece mocks both excessive American deference to foreign nobility and the absurdity of maintaining rigid social performance at a democratic, working-class venue like a baseball game. It suggests authentic American behavior requires dropping artificial courtesies.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cormna ta hiinany-% WILL “HAVE you seen Jimson? What’s the matter with his face? Looks as though it had intervened in a Black Hand outrage."’ “Yaas. Jimson, rather unsightly.”’ “But how did it happen?” “Ata ball game.” “Ata ball game? Fight?” “Oh, no! Jimson never fights. You must know his chief characteristic. "’ “know he is the personification of po- liteness. Courtesy is his middle name."” “Just that. You've often seen him at the theater, no doubt, in the box of this or that dame of fashion. He never cares for the play, and throughout is Chester- fielding it to beat the band. A sort of public lesson in deportment—of a cer- tain kind.’” “Yes. But his face just now.” “Well, as you know, the Countess of Bing-Bang is here on an important mis- sion. She is to ‘see America’ in a week and write her impressions for a London daily. She came accredited to the set in which Jimson is prominent, and he took her to the first of the world Series games between the Giants and the Red Sox as an event she could not afford to overlook.”” poor old chap, is \ ‘s . ; " IT COME TO TH A sartorial possibility that may grow out of suffrage. Jimson. “Quite right, too. How can one see America thoroughly in a week and leave out a world series ball game?”’ “Well, Jimson had a box in the upper tier, and the way he entertained the countess was something for those shy on that art to study. To be sure, as the teams marched on the field to the music of the band, he pointed out to her some of the stars of the contest; but, once the game began, he hardly looked at the S ae IT SOMETIMES HAPPENS. Wise—"* This is certainly a good cigar you "ve old chap !"” T bet I've gone and given you the wrong one !"" 1S? players, and the countess seemed wholly occupied with Jimson, amazed, perhaps, that a citizen of this country could show so much gentility, courtesy, urbanity and affability. In fact, Jimson could not have been more absorbed in the countess had they been alone in a draw- ing-room.’” “Yes. But what happened?” “Well, I think it was in the second inning—although Jimson apparently didn’t know whether it was the second or the ninth, he was so busy with the countess—that it happened. A foul tip came like a bullet and hit Jimson square in the face. Knocked him out, and sent the countess into hysterics, for it really was a bloody affair, don’t you know. Friends took them both out, and they left in Jimson’s motor.’" “Served Jimson right, don’t you think? What right has a man to jolly about in a social way like that at a ball game? He ought to have had his eye on the ball.’” “Sure thing. And it proved to me what has often been declared.”” “What is that?’’ “That a ball park, during the progress of a game, is no place for polite con- versation."” J. A. Waldron, comicbooks.com