Judge, 1913-08-02 · page 13 of 24
Judge — August 2, 1913 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* contains three satirical pieces mocking early 20th-century gender and courtship norms: **"The Modern Apartment House"** depicts a woman unable to unfasten her dress after an evening out, with her husband away. The joke's twist: the elderly elevator operator cheerfully admits he's unhooked dresses for "every lady in the house"—implying widespread infidelity among fashionable apartment dwellers. The satire targets both the supposed moral looseness of modern urban life and the absurdity of women's impractical fashion. **"An Easy Solution"** mocks a young woman proposing a solution to her fiancé's concerns about her fifteen-thousand-dollar annual dressmaking budget: he should simply meet her dressmaker—implying the dressmaker (not the woman) is the real relationship. The satire targets women's extravagant spending habits and the emerging "modern woman." **"The Silly Season"** and minor pieces offer quick jokes about vacation length, heartbreak cures, and conscience—typical filler humor. The cartoons collectively satirize urban modernity, women's independence, and changing courtship practices as socially destabilizing.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ceed TRE The Modern Apartment House HE HAD just returned from a theater and supper party to her rooms in a fashionable apartment house. Friends had left her at the door and driven away. Mechanically she put her hand over her shoulder to unclasp the hooks of the gown, and then it dawned upon her. This was the gown she could not unfasten, and her husband was out of town. 1 What in the world was she to 1 do? Why hadn't she asked one of r the women to unhook the dress . under her opera wrap before she It was too late left the motor? to expect any one in the house to be up. Again and again she tried to reach the elusive bows and hooks—over and under, stooping, and then stretched to her utmost height. It couldn’t be done. She sank exhausted on the bed. Well, anyway, it wouldn’t be so awfully long until morning, and maybe she could rest as she was. But it was out of the question, And then, suddenly, she thought of John—old, feeble John, who had been night elevator man for many years. Maybe— Oh, would it be dreadful to ask him? She rang, and presently there came the uneven tread of the old fellow down the hall. “John, I—I am in trouble. Do you su-suppose, if I backed to the door, that you could unhook this gown?"" And old John, gallantly and with a smile that would have disclosed all his teeth if he had had any, said, “Indeed, mum, I can, I have done it for every lady in the house."’ Clifford BP. Jones. Talking about chances for making fortunes, the greatest place for coining money is a mint. LAST TRAIN An Easy Solution HE HAD proposed. Being a modern yonng woman, she was arranging settlements and kindly mentioned a few details of personal expenditure. “But—but,” he gasped, “I couldn’t possibly support a wife who spent fifteen thousand dollars a year with her dressmaker alone!”” “Ah, see! Perhaps you would like to meet my dressmaker.’” Informal He vowed that he loved her the first time they met, As he kissed her and fondled her hai Yet she neither grew angry nor got in a pet— It was merely a summer affair. The Silly Season May—How much longer are you going to stay on your vacation? Fay—Why, my dear, until I'm completely tired out! Same Old Cure All of medicine but this is Sadly out of date; Broken hearts are healed by kisses— Let me demonstrate! Although some men are great mathematicians, woman still re- mains an unsolved problem. Caley fr O4ad a REPENTED Ho—I stole a ride from Philadelphia wanst. Bo—Ye did! Ho—Yis ; an' me conscience troubled me so that I took it back th’ nixt mornin’. comicbooks.com