Judge, 1912-12-21 · page 7 of 24
Judge — December 21, 1912 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge page contains nostalgic humor and light political commentary. **Top cartoon ("One on Mother"):** A self-made man emotionally recounts buying his childhood home as a Christmas gift for his wife. A young bystander asks what the joke is—the humor lies in the sentimentality and the gap between the man's emotional display and the practical reality of his gift. **Main story ("A New Turn to an Old Tale"):** A sentimental tale about inferior modern pies compared to mother's legendary cooking. The narrator's nostalgic complaint triggers emotional tears, which transform into contentment when he realizes his wife's pies, however bad, represent her love—inverting the complaint into gratitude. This plays on early-20th-century nostalgia for "the old days." **"Possible Exceptions":** Two characters discuss President Wilson's accessibility to White House visitors. The joke suggests that while Wilson claims openness, book agents and con artists peddling schemes ("gold bricks") might find opportunities in his accessibility—a mildly cynical jab at political naiveté.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OTHER. The self-made man (emotionally) —"‘ There, children, that 's the lil’ old house where I first met your mother. I'ma going to buy it and give it to her for a Christmas present." Young hopeful—'* What's the joke, gav'nor ?”” A New Turn ceyour pies are not the kind, my that mother used to make.’’ Thus he be- gan, and soon a tear its course began to take adown her cher- ished little nose, and thence athwart her chin, to drop at last unto her toe—it really was a sin! “Oh, no, indeed!’’ resumed the wight. ‘‘They’re not at all the sort of rubber disks that day and night she laid before the court. They’ve not the same resistance that those pies of mother's had—a sort of gutta- percha mat laid on a woolen pad. “*We couldn’t eat them, though we tried swith all our main and ‘might. The crust was hard, and all inside was tough as anthracite. And when she served those awful pies and placed them there before us, we dear, & youngsters one and all would rise and sing the anvil chorus. “Ah, no, indeed! My life I'll stake, those pies of yours are not like those that mother used to make A MEMORY. to an Old Tale. in days long since forgot; and I was going to add, my love, so far from making plaint, I wish to thank my stars above, oh, sweetheart, that they ain’t!"’ ENVOI. And where the tears had ’gun to flow there came a genial sort of glow; and all was peace and smil- ing skies, unclouded by maternal pies, which since the days of Plu- tarch’s Lives have been the curse of loving wives. Carlyle Smith, Possible Exceptions. Rumble—‘“‘I see that President Wilson intends to be accessible to all callers when he gets into the White House."* Bumble—‘‘Well, that is consider- ate, admit. But do you think book agents and peddlers of gold bricks will see an opening?” comicbooks.com