Judge, 1914-06-27 · page 10 of 25
Judge — June 27, 1914 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces satirizing early 20th-century American consumer culture and social friction. **"No Team Work"** (main story): A humorous anecdote about Brother Brad, who purchases an elegant suit on credit from an aggressive creditor. The creditor's relentless collection visits—calling at all hours—disrupts the household so severely that Sister Liza Lee must hide her missionary society in the coal bin. The dark humor peaks when Brother Brad dies after falling from a roof, and Sister Liza Lee triumphantly tells the creditor that Brad was buried in the suit, permanently ending the debt. The satire targets predatory credit salesmen and installment-plan financing, which trapped poor families in cycles of harassment and debt. **"And Then Some"** (brief section): A quip about modern social competition—once people needed to "keep up with the procession" (stay current with fashions/status), but now they must "tango some," referencing the tango dance craze of the era. It mocks how each generation escalates its spending and social performance demands. Both pieces critique consumerism and status-seeking among working-class Americans.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
maT | a —S NO TEAM WORK iS =| wll Hushand—\ can't understand why they haven't sent someone to meet us, unless your letter went astray. My letter! he passed the distribution box and other times when he was a mourner at funerals, 8o he went to one of them creditmen and gota real elegant suit, just for handing over two dol- lars and ahalf and promis- ing to pay a dollar more every Saturdey afternoon. Well, then, that rambunc- tious creditman he began pestering poor Brad's life most out of him. First, he come around regular Saturday afternoons, and 'tain't always so convenient to go away from home every Saturday afternoon, specially when you ain't got a steady job. And then he be- gun dropping in most any time during the week and expecting Sister Liza Lee to hand over Brother Brad's hard-earned cash —to that no-account creditman she'd never seen before in her life till Brother Brad got that swallertail! It really got so it wore on Sister Liza Lee's nerves, for it is auriferous to have to hide away awhole female missionary society in the coal bin every time there's a strange rap on the door, as Sister Liza Lee done more than once. You can see that yourself, ma'am, “Finally, things got so bad that they most made up their minds to move, for that creditman had screwed five dollars out of Brother Brad, and he said that if he didn't git his pay regular after that, he’d come with a policeman ahd take Why, Frank, I distinctly understood that you had written, Brother Brad’s suit right away from him for good and all. But 'twa'n't two days after that that Brother Bradstreet done fell off a roof he was mending over on Goodenow Avenue'’—— Mandy paused dramatically, and I has- tened to express the proper emotion. “What a pity!’’ I exclaimed feelingly. “Pity, ma’am?’’ retorted Mandy, in surprise. y? I should say not! When that creditman came around the next Saturday afternoon, what do you think Sister Liza Lee says to him, ma’am?” Once more Mandy paused dramatically, but this time I was not to be caught. I merely shook my head. “Sister Liza Lee," con- tinued Mandy, with telling ef- fect, ‘‘marched right to the front door the very first time he knoeked and shuck her fist in that creditman’s face, she did. ‘Come right along, you rascapillion, you!’ she says, just like Queen Esther to the church tableows. ‘You would go and bring a policeman and git my husband's best swaller- tail suit, would you? Well, I just dare you to!’ says she. ‘General Pradstreet Beaure- gard Lee has got ahead of you this time, you lowdown creditman, you! He was bur- ied in that suit yesterday morning at ten o'clock !" “But, of course, everybody can't ex- pect to have such magniloquent luck as Brother Bradstreet Lee!"’ And Then Some It used to be that if we wanted to keep up with the procession, we had **got to go some."’ In these days we have got to tango some. YE COMPLEAT ANGLER comicbooks.com