Judge, 1913-05-24 · page 13 of 24
Judge — May 24, 1913 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge magazine page contains several brief humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor: **"Advantage of Not Knowing"** satirizes how expertise can paralyze action. An expert lists 70-80 reasons why something can't be done, while an ignorant novice simply does it successfully—mocking overanalysis and bureaucratic obstruction. **"Following Orders"** uses double entendre: a father tells a young man courting his daughter to "light out" (leave); the man interprets it literally and turns off the light, proving his obedience through willful misunderstanding. **"On the Level"** and other brief jokes rely on puns and wordplay about circus performers, ranch management, and train delays in the American South—standard period humor. **"Probably Her Honeybee"** plays on "bee" (insect) versus the romantic expectations of marriage, ending with a sexual pun about the bride getting "stung"—contemporary risqué humor. The cartoons and text reflect early 1900s American sensibilities: absurdist logic, courtship proprieties, regional stereotypes, and mildly suggestive innuendo acceptable for the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Advantage of Not Knowing HE EXPERT said, “‘It can’t be done,"” ‘And gave the reasons weighty— Conclusive reasons, every one— Some seventy or eighty. The novice gave the job a glance, And saw no hin- 2 drance to it; ems And, aided by his ig- norance, What did he do but do it? = Walter G. Daty. Following Orders At eleven o'clock her father put his head within the door. ‘‘Come, young man, light out!’’ he said. The words were pleasant enough, but the young man knew that they must be obeyed. So he reached up and turned out the light. = Probably Not Mrs. Hoyle—How did your husband get along running the ranch while you were away? Mrs. Doyle—Well, I don’t think he will ON TitE GEVEL advertise for a position as housekeeper 7¢ erocer’s so —Which one of them circus fellers would you rather be? on the strength of the record he made. The preacher's son—Neither one. Pa says there ain't one of them that you could call actually square. Bound To Have His Joke ««]TOKES about the slowness of trains, especially here in the South,’’ says an Atlanta railway man, ‘‘also tire me a ANSTEIN Sif] z ? 2 bit by their ancientness; but I heard a CLOTHS i | new and good one not long ago. = | “It seems that trains are always slow and far between on a branch line in Mis- sissippi. Nobody knows this better than the people at the junction, except the people on the line itself. One day the newsdealer came to me grinning. “**& fellow from the other end of the line just said a funny thing,’ he remarked. ‘He had missed his train and there wasn’t another for two hours. He came to my stall to buy some reading matter to while away the time. He asked for a jokebook, and I didn’t have any. Then he poked around for a while and said, ««* «Well, I guess I'll take a time table inetead.""""" Probably Her Honeybee Clara's sister (at boarding school) —Must be an insect Clara married in- stead of a man. Girl chum—How 80? Clara's sister—Why, in her letter to TEMPERAMENT me, written right after the honeymoon, Little girl—There 's somethin’ about music that always makes me insides feel kind o’ wabbly. she says she got stung. comicbooks.com