Judge, 1913-09-13 · page 12 of 24
Judge — September 13, 1913 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two satirical pieces from *Judge* magazine: **"A Tale of Tangled Threads"** features Uncle Mose, a Black worker in a match factory whose phosphorus-covered clothes glow at night. His wife Mandy demands he quit, fearing the chemical exposure. When he leaves work one evening, neighborhood children mistake his glowing appearance for a supernatural being ("Debble"—the Devil) and attack him with bricks. He's hospitalized, then expelled from his church as a "witch." The satire targets both superstition and the cruel conditions of industrial labor—though the humor relies heavily on racial dialect caricature typical of the era. **"Unfashionable"** (left side) mocks women's fashion obsession: Sara suggests redesigning the American flag because its stripes aren't "in style this year." The page also includes minor jokes about husbands' complaints and settlement house charity. The content reflects early 20th-century *Judge* editorial positions: criticism of industrial hazards, skepticism toward working-class superstition, and mockery of upper-class women's vanity—all filtered through deeply offensive racial stereotyping.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Tale of Tangled Threads NCLE MOSE was seated in Ritten- house Square dejected and gloomy. “Aren't you working now, Uncle Mose?"” “*No, I ain't workin’ no more, no more. I’se done tell yo’ how it kem about.’"’ “Yo* see, I had a job in de match fac- t'ry * de phospus is mighty sociable wid hisself around dar climbing all over yo’ pussun till yo’ smell like fireworks. “De fust day, when I kem home in de evenin’, Mandy sez, ‘Mose, what am dat fum’ry yo’ got on yo’ pussun? Yo’ sure am a badly infumigated niggah.’ '” “Mandy, dat ain’t fumigation, dat am phospus.”’ “After I dun tol’ Mandy what dat was every time when I kem home in de even- in’, she would say, ‘Mose, yo're gettin’ too infumigated to live and yo’s better get out dat fact’ry.’’” “‘An’ I done tole Mandy I couldn't get UNFASHIONABLE Sara—The first thing we want to do, Matel, is change the design of that flag. Mabel—Woat for? Sara—Why, you know perfectly well, that stripes aren't in style this year! HOW, INDEED? Hubby—Every cent I make goes on your back ! sech a job every day, an’ I was goin’ fo’ ter stay till I done get anuther one.’" “Dat was in March an’ one night I hed to work late, an’ ‘twas a dark, ca- lamitous kind of anight, an’ when I kem uted de fact'ry, I seen my clothes was sheddin’ ob light like de picture ob de ole Moses on de mountain of Transfigura- tion dat de bible talks about. I 'spected it was my piousness shinin’ fro’ the gloom till I reckoned "twas the phosphus in my clothes. When I kem up South Street, [heard the boys hollerin’ ‘Debble, Debble’ “I knew dar was boun’ to be trouble. Man, dem ar’ de vilest chil’in in dis town, I said to 'emin a kin’ way, ‘See here, chil’in, I’se Unck’l Mose.’ “‘Now dose boys warn’t goin’ to b'leve dat. When de boys cried, ‘Debble, Deb- Wife—How can you say that, dear? ble,’ it floated around dat street like this- tledown on de air and from all sides dey frew bricks an’ bottles till I was buried out of sight, and my po’ head was putty near fractioned. “De patrol wagon done come an’ took me to de hospital, an’ fo’ four weeks I was flat on my back, and den de coons in my chuch done hel’ a meetin’ and ex- pelled me for bein’ a witch. “0, man, I hed to giv’ up dat job.”” Marion Winfield Hissey Synonyms Annie—I saw you at the millinery opening yesterday, It was a perfect jam. Fannie—Yes, wasn't it sweet! Settlement houses are not used for the relief of unhappy creditors. comicbooks.com