Judge, 1913-11-08 · page 15 of 26
Judge — November 8, 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Broadway's theatrical trends around the early 1900s. The top cartoon mocks the theater industry's sudden shift toward "pure" plays—wholesome productions advertised with moral endorsements ("Praised by press, pew and pulpit," "Pure as the driven snow"). The satire suggests these plays are artificially marketed as morally superior to replace previous "crook dramas and red-light shockers," revealing the cynicism behind theatrical reform. The manager's boast that his "pure play" comes with free cigaret coupons undercuts the sincerity of this morality crusade. The bottom section contains unrelated comic vignettes about marital dynamics, including a joke about a husband teaching his wife to skate (motivated by jealousy, not devotion) and a pun about names like "Lager" and "Hundertpound." The top illustration shows fashionably dressed theater-goers, though the caption references a woman playing tennis improperly dressed.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lucy—The idea of her playing tennis in a street skirt! Pure Plays in Gotham HAD been away from New York six weeks. Great changes are apt to take ral during these prolonged ab- sences, and I was hun- _ gry for a glimpse of oy, <7 the Great White Way. SY It was barely seven when I hustled out up- » on Broadway, and ei sthey were just begin- ning to turn on the electric signs that ‘blaze along that famous thoroughfare. I paused before the Umphsteenth Street Theater. 7 “Rollo in Europe.’" Thus read the electric sign over the entrance to that historic playhouse. “Praised by press, pew and pulpit,”’ stated the posters flanking the doorway. I rubbed my eyes and wandered on. “Elsie’s School Days.'’ This sign held me for an astonished moment in front of the Frivolity, home of doubtful dramas. NET RESULTS “‘Pure as the driven snow,’’ was the supplementary indorsement. In front of the Rotterdam Avenue The- ater I encountered the rotund manager of that house. “*What’s the matter with Broadway ?’” I stammered. The manager grinned. “*You mean these pure plays?’’ he re- sponded. I nodded feebly. “Well, you sec, New York was tired of crook dramas and red-light shockers. There was bound to be a reaction. The pendulum has merely swung the other way; the strictly pure play holds the boards now. I’ve got the greatest of them all,’’ he boasted. He touched a button, and his own elec- > tric sign flashed up: “Our Native Wild Flowers.’’ “It's a knockout, my boy,’ chirped my friend, the manager. ‘‘It’s a clean knockout, and a package of cubeb ciga- rettes goes with every orchestra coupon."’ —William 8, Adkins. Leo—Oh, | think she is making a fine showing! His Devotion OUNG Mrs. Flitter tells me that her husband is going to teach her how to skate this winter,’’ says Mrs. Gooph, in the tone a woman employs when she conceals a reproof in a morsel of con- versation, ‘‘Isn’t it nice to see a man so devoted to his wife?”’ “‘Devoted—shucks!’’ grumbles Gooph, from behind his magazine. ‘‘He’s ‘so blamed jealous of her, he won’t take a chance at having any other man near her.’" Exasperating. “How does it come that your wife gets you so sore at her? Does she henpeck you?’’ “Quite the contrary, darn it! When we kfve an argument and I prove that I am right, she sighs meekly and says, “Ob, well, dearie, have it your own way What’s ina name? John Lager keeps a beer saloon and A. Hundertpound is in the banking and money exchange business. comicbooks.com