Judge, 1914-03-28 · page 9 of 24
Judge — March 28, 1914 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* satirizes early 1900s society and fashion obsessions through interconnected pieces. **"No Inducement"** (top cartoon and dialogue) mocks the tango craze's decline. The joke: the dance was scandalous precisely because clergy opposed it as improper. Now that even clergy approve it, society finds it boring—respectability kills its appeal. **The fashion and social commentary sections** ridicule wealthy women's vanity: obsessing over dress details, dropping names (Maxine Elliott, a famous actress), and their shallow priorities. The lobster joke plays on the pseudo-scientific "you are what you eat" fad. **"The Wig"** poem satirizes women's fashion insecurity—buying an expensive purple wig because newspapers promote it and saleswomen flatter them, despite husbands' disapproval. It's peer pressure disguised as style. **"Settled"** delivers a sharp class satire: an American heiress marrying a titled Englishman isn't about romance—it's a financial transaction where she literally pays ("every cent she had") for his noble status. The overall theme: wealthy American society is vain, easily manipulated by fashion and advertising, and driven by social competition rather than genuine values.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Circe—It seems that the tango craze is passing. NO INDUCEMENT Terpsichore—Of course. Who wants to dance the old thing now? Why, even the clergy have decided that there is nothing at all improper about it! embroidery. It is an afternoon dress, but the back is cut in a low V and there is a little tail that you can hook up when you tango. It is gorgeous with the tiger muff € A Y ct all andhat. That was GAS 1 / a positive inspira- FAIA NAIT | tion of Julie's. Reggie said I looked like an expensive rug. Cora had on one of those impossible things she gets: And the same hat she wore yester- day. She must be losing her mind. The man I met at lunch came in and nodded all round, and every one thought some one else knew him. I must ask the But- tyns who he is. He made a bet with Reggie that I was Maxine Elliott. They came terribly near a quarrel. But I pulled Reggie’s coat and reminded him that Billy would hear of it, and he quieted down. Rushed home to dress for dinner. The black net with the jet embroidery fits perfectly. I look like a Boldini portrait init. I carried a big black fan and wore no jeweis—just a jet headdress—linked with diamonds. It was an awful noisy piece—one of those Wagner things. I don’t really know what it was. Music tires me so! How tired I get of this empty society life!’ Thank goodness, I have four new hats coming home to-morrow ! Living Proof Madge—Science teaches us that a man becomes what he eats. Do you believe it? May—How can you doubt it? There’s Harry, for instance. He's eaten a lob- ster every night for years. The fashion report of the reappearance of the bustle is probably only a false alarm to frighten the tango. The Wig Now. why did I buy it, I wonder? I must have been crazy, I know; But the papers are full of the fashion, And the saleswoman flattered me so! I dread for my husband to see it— He’s certain to grumble and scold. He used, in the days of our courtship, To liken my tresses to gold. How Madge and Louisa and Gladys And the rest of the women would stare, If I should appear in the tango, Oh, caramels! out of my hair! But I'll bet they would go in convulsions Of jealousy over my rig, And I guess, after all, that I’ll wear it To spite them, my new purple wig. —Minna Irving. Settled Howard—I hear your daughter is going to marry an English nobleman. Is it all settled? Coward—Yes; every cent she had. comicbooks.com