Judge, 1912-11-23 · page 11 of 24
Judge — November 23, 1912 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The cartoon at top shows a domestic scene where a wife warns her husband not to flirt with the baker, saying she'll bake the bread herself. It's a light joke about marital jealousy. The main content is a satirical "proclamation" mocking forced optimism during hard economic times (appears to be pre-1920s, given references to motor cars and college). The "Happy Day Club" ironically instructs members to manufacture gratitude for misfortunes: unpaid grocer bills, romantic rejection, wrecked automobiles, flunked sons, poor food quality, and electoral defeat. The satire targets both the era's relentless "positive thinking" culture and the genuine hardships people faced—debt, relationship failures, accidents, educational disappointment, and food scarcity. By listing absurd reasons to be "thankful" for disasters, Judge ridicules the notion that attitude alone solves material problems. The piece is essentially saying: *telling suffering people to smile doesn't fix their actual troubles*.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NOTHING DOING. saw the baker kissing you this morning, Mary. He don’t like blondes.”* “Tt won't be no use, Ma'am. The In future I shall take in the bread ruyself."” Happy Day Club. A PROCLAMATION. OTICE is hereby given that all members of the Happy Day Club are required by the rules and reg- ulations of that organization to be thankful on Thanks- giving Day, whether they feel that way or not. In order to make obedience to this regulation easier for all Happy Daisies, the Secretary hereby submits the following suggestions to that end: I. If you cannot be thankful because you cannot for- get that you owe your grocer $487.43, bear in mind that it is still possible to give thanks because the total of the bill is not $987.34. Il. If you cannot find Thanksgiving in your heart because your best girl has refused you, it is still possible for you to be grateful for the rejection, since it will enable you to practice certain Christmas economies which would otherwise be impossible. She might have kept you waiting on the anxious seat until December 27th, thereby involving you in consid- erable expense; so be thankful that you know the worst now. III. If you cannot be thankful because your motor car has been reduced by a careless chauf- feur to what is picturesquely termed ‘‘a bunch of junk,’’ you can be grateful over the thought that your daily bills for new tires and gasoline have been temporarily suspended, if not permancntly so. IV. If you cannot be thankful because your young hopeful has been flunked at and sent home from college, you may at least be thankful over the reflection that for a little while yet to come you will continue to know more than he does, and that, lacking the standing in scholarship necessary for eligibility to the football team, his nose, ears and bones generally are safe until next season, anyhow. V. If, because of bad business conditions, you have been forced to economize on your table and feel de- pressed and thankless on that account, there is still ground for gratitude in the realization of the fact that, deprived of camembert cheese, canvasback ducks, alli- gator pears, nesselrode puddings and other rich foods, your impaired digestion will enjoy a much needed rest and should shortly be on the road to a complete rehabilitation. VI. If your party has been defeated at the polls and there is no thanksgiving left in you because the country is going to the canines, re- member that you can still be grateful for the opportunity that will be yours to say how much comicbooks.com