Judge, 1913-12-27 · page 12 of 25
Judge — December 27, 1913 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon depicts bank examiners arriving at a financial institution—a commentary on regulatory oversight of banks during the early 20th century. The large crowd of formally dressed men and women suggests either public anxiety about bank inspections or satirical exaggeration of bureaucratic intrusion. The accompanying text is a humorous monologue by a new father bragging about his newborn son to a colleague named Ned, mixing personal pride with social pretension. The joke relies on the speaker's contradictions: he boasts the baby is "a regular prizefighter" yet denies he looks like himself; he claims his son is "all right and a great boy" while complaining the child is inconsiderately loud and demanding. The final line—"Many men have less trouble in carrying their 280 avoirdupois than going around with the weight of a heavy conscience"—suggests the cartoon's real target: the hypocrisy and moral compromise of men in banking and business who, like this new father, present false fronts while harboring guilt.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BANK EXAMINERS suppose you’d be there in them just the same if a lady had called you up. You never did care much for the proprieties. Say, Ned, you'll have to get me that box of cigars. You know that you said that if it was a girl I'd have to give you a box of cigars, and if it was a boy— You bet it’s aboy! You'd think so if you could see him. A regular prizefighter! He lacks but an ounce or two of nine pounds, and he’s voice enough now to get a job calling out trains on a railroad station! What train did he come in on? One that reached here at nine-thirty-three this evening. It’s a wonder it wasn’t that hour in the morning! That is the inconsiderate way in which most of them act, isn’t it? Each got a boy now, haven't we? Makes me feel kind 0’ queer. But you been there, so you know all about it. What we going to call him? Joseph Ed- mund Giddyboy, Junior, if you please. You'll be getting a card in a day or two. I’m all bowed down with the responsibility of being a man of family! The nurse says he looks like me. Good heayens! If I thought I looked like that, I’d never go on the streets excepting in a closed cab! She says he has my nose, and I bet my nose would make six of his! But I want you to distinctly understand that my son is all right and a great boy! You bring that box of cigars to the office to-morrow! My son is calling me. I suppose he wants to be taken into the firm. This first-baby business is a great thing, isn’t it, Ned? Good- night! Tell you all about it to-morrow. Many men have less trouble in carrying their 280 avoirdu- pois than going around with the weight of a heavy conscience. Egg View Notes WHILE reading a danger sign at the Bushnell crossing on the railroad Tuesday evening, Tink Nitz was struck by an automobile and hurled forty feet in the air. Muley Cannon has been missing since Monday. A city drum- mer, with a bow on the back of his stiff hat and a plush neck- tie, said Wednesday that Muley was likely headed for Mexico, —Lestie Van Every. One looking at a hen is reminded of that homely prov- erb, ‘‘Handsome is that handsome does.’” comicbooks.com