Judge, 1913-01-04 · page 5 of 26
Judge — January 4, 1913 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece mocks wealthy high-society women who adopted elaborate fashion and social pretensions. "Mrs. de Fashion de Family," described as "the first woman in America" to follow a particular trend, supposedly inspired ten million women to imitate her—with disastrous consequences. The joke: these wealthy women became so obsessed with fashion that they neglected domestic duties entirely. They "pinned up her skirts and scrubbed the floor," abandoning their servants' roles. The satire suggests that blind devotion to fashion icons causes women to abandon practical responsibilities and rationality itself. The cartoon ridicules both conspicuous consumption and women's susceptibility to social pressure, presenting fashionable society women as foolishly herd-like rather than independent thinkers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AT THE OPERA—A BACK NUMBER. The Cost: UTWARDLY Society said, ‘‘ How sweet of her!"’ Inwardly they mumped and mut- tered. But there was no cure for it. When Mrs. de Fashion de Family, the first woman in America, did a thing, there was nothing left but to follow suit. The news was told with bat- ed breath. At first the ten millon women who followed her would not believe it, but photo- graphs confirmed the news sto- ries, It was true. Mrs. de Fashion de Family had actually pinned up herskirts and scrubbed the floor. Consequently all the ten mil- lion went down on their hands and knees and scrubbed floors. Then Mrs. de Fashion de Family cleaned out a cellar. LOVE IS BLIND. A Tragedy. Presto! the ten million cleaned out cellars. She washed clothes, They washed clothes. She dressed her baby. They dressed their babies. She cooked a meal for her husband. They cooked for their husbands. She said she hated fashion and fam- ily and all that rot. The ten million promptly declared themselves in the same vein. Then the court decided that Mrs, de Fashion de Family was insane. Atonce the ten million brushed the dust from their knees and wiped the dish water from their elbows and said, ‘‘Thank God! at last we can live rationally !”” —Heratie Winslow. comicbooks,com