Judge, 1914-05-30 · page 10 of 24
Judge — May 30, 1914 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* magazine presents six short humorous items about letter-writers to newspapers and magazines—people readers encounter through their published correspondence but never meet in person. The cartoons illustrate ethnic/class stereotypes common to early 20th-century American humor. "The Last Straw" features a traveler and tavern keeper with exaggerated Irish dialect ("b'gosh"), joking about straw quality. Similar dialect humor appears in "Didn't Seem Enough," where "Pat" and "Begorra" mark an Irish immigrant character. The title piece uses a schoolroom scenario to make a crude joke: when the teacher asks "all the Js" to come forward, **no one moves**—a racial slur targeting Jewish students, implying they wouldn't want to identify themselves. "The Common Flaw" satirizes modern women who study "eugenics, sexology" and "race welfare" (progressive early-1900s ideas) yet fail at basic child discipline—mocking educated women's pretensions. These pieces reflect period attitudes toward immigrants, Jews, and women's intellectual ambitions through what was then considered acceptable satirical humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SOME PEOPLE WHOSE LETTERS TO THE PRESS WE READ EVERY DAY BUT SOMEHOW OR OTHER NEVER MEET Not Anxious To Enter That Category THE teacher was seating pupils alpha- beticalls “All those whose last names begin with the letter A please come forward,”’ said she. When these were assigned their places, she said, “Those with the letter B,’’ and so on through the alphabet. All went well until she unwittingly said, “All the Js may come this way."’ Not even the teacher could refrain from laughter when every J remained in the background. Didn't Seem Enough “My goodness, Pat,’? protested Mr. Skids, ‘the man was guilty! Why didn’t you convict him?”” “Begorra,"’ replied Pat, ‘“‘hanging would have been too good for him.’ The Last Straw Wayward traveler—Pardon, but what do you have your mattresses stuffed with? Tavern keeper—With the best straw in the hull country, b’gosh! Wayward traveler—Now, that accounts for it! I know where the straw came from that broke the camel's back! The Common Flaw MATILDA was nothing if not up to date, And when she got married, she firmly did state That if she had children, the world would be shown That hers would be rather the best ever known, She studied eugenics, sexology, too; Concerning race walfare she knew whst to do. She raised healthy children, but now you will find, Despite all her knowledge, she can’t make them mind! —Dan Shea. comicbooks.com