Judge, 1913-02-01 · page 14 of 24
Judge — February 1, 1913 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine piece satirizes **consumer envy and marital pressure** in the early automobile era. The cartoon depicts a grotesque snail—representing an outdated 1910 car—as how newer-car owners view older models, emphasizing rapid technological obsolescence. The accompanying story mocks middle-class status anxiety: Mrs. Brown pressures her husband George to buy a newer five-passenger automobile because their neighbor Mr. Dickens (a mere bookkeeper) has one. Though the Browns are wealthier—George is an auditor—Mrs. Brown feels socially undermined. George resists, pointing out their horse and carriage suffice, but ultimately capitulates to avoid appearing "cheap." The satire targets **conspicuous consumption** and **keeping-up-with-the-Joneses** mentality among the rising middle class. The joke is that Mr. Brown wins the argument by suggesting they'd need a *seven*-passenger car to truly outdo Dickens—an absurdly expensive escalation that exposes the futility of competitive spending.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HOW A 1910 CAR LOOKS TO THE FELLOW WHO HAS JUST BOUGHT A 1913 MODEL. “She Stoops By DONALD A, KARYN. EORGE,”’ said Mrs. Brown, when Mr, Brown came home to dinner, ‘‘the Dickens have an automobile !’’ “The Dickens they have!’ responded Mr. Brown cordially. He did not seem enthusiastic, however. His wife conse- quently became slightly nettled. She was always interested in the doings of Mrs. Dickens and disliked being outdone. “A touring car," appended Mrs. Brown. “What do you know about it?’’ ejaculated Mr. Brown, but with slight interest. “You don’t seem to care much, George,’’ complained Mrs. Brown accusingly. “Of course I don’t care,’’ he agreed. ‘‘Dickens could buy a whole garage, and welcome. He's always been a good neighbor—never kept chickens or poisoned the dog.’’ “‘George,’’ stated Mrs. Brown, ‘‘it’s a five-passenger!"’ that so?’’ he responded. “‘He’s only a bookkeeper,’’ continued Mrs. Brown. sure he doesn’t earn as much as you do.”’ Mr. Brown began to catch the drift. ‘Now listen, Ella,”’ “Dm To ” Conquer. “We've got the mare and phaeton, and We never get any blow-outs, he said warningly. that’s plenty good enough. and the mare never has anything wrong with her carbureter. Let the Dickens alone. Wait till you see them crawling in on the rim,”” “I know," said Mrs, Brown, a birthday present for Mrs. Dickens, of her. My birthday is Saturday, George. continued, smiling sweetly, “you wouldn't buy me a cheap, five-passenger car, would you?” “Why,”’ replied Mr. Brown, ‘‘certainly I wouldn’t. Not that I wouldn’t like to, if I thought we could afford one. But you know, Ella, that we can’t."” Mrs, Brown blushed. ‘‘That’s not just what I meant,’’ she confessed. ‘‘I meant, you wouldn’t want to buy me only a five-passenger car, you an auditor, when Mr. Dickens bought his wife a five-passenger car, and he only a book- keeper. You wouldn’t want to be as cheap as Mr. Dickens.’" Mr. Brown pondered. ‘‘ Well, said he at last, ‘‘of course not—that is, of course, if we could afford a seven-passenger car. But we can’t, any more than Dickens could afford a five—which he couldn't.” He smiled triumphantly. “Mr. Dickens bought it as He thinks the world George,"’ she comicbooks.com