Judge, 1914-10-31 · page 5 of 24
Judge — October 31, 1914 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Judge* magazine presents a satirical story about Mrs. Johannes and Professor Dammerunga. The narrative mocks the widow's romantic pursuit of the professor, despite their age difference and his modest worth. The satire targets the social dynamics of courtship: Mrs. Johannes, a wealthy fifty-year-old widow, pursues the professor relentlessly while he remains ambivalent. The story suggests she's motivated by vanity rather than genuine affection—she wants to "play the coquette" and prove she can attract a man. The cartoon illustrates their domestic scene, with the professor appearing detached (smoking, reading) while she sits attentively. The humor derives from the reversal of traditional gender roles in courtship and the suggestion that wealthy widows of a certain age pursue younger men despite social impropriety—a common *Judge* theme mocking contemporary manners and social pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
RS. JOHANNES caused it to be ru- mored that her late husband, a brewer, had lost the bulk of his fortune in speculation, This had been necessary because she B was bothered by young men who made eyes at her fortune through her. After aseemly period of mourning Mrs. Johannes got the notion that she should marry again; but she was too shrewd to listen to youth, which, as she knew, would have its fling. Before this rumor men of years and substance had also sought her hand; but they were too stiff and formal to suit her. While she was suspicious of youth, she cherished the idea that finally she might find a man of reasonable age who would also still retain something of youth’s spirit. Such a man at last arrived. He was Professor Dammerung. What he professed, other than admiration for her, was a mys- tery; but he so bore himself that no wight had the temerity to question his degrees or his worth. The professor was an imposing person. Yet with the widow he was vivacious and altogether attractive. One evening, as they sat together in her well-appointed residence, he exclaimed, “You are beautiful !"’ “Ah, professor," she replied, ‘do you really mean it?” Inside Information |. WALDRON She sat back in her chair coquettishly, if a woman of fifty, weighing something over two hundred, can play the coquette, and observed him out of the corner of her eye. “Do I look like one who would trifle?’’ he responded. To her he really did not. He smiled amorously, with a cigarette in a long holder balanced daintily between his shapely fingers and one leg thrown over the other to display the faultless cut of his trou- sers. The professor’s personality destroyed all the traditions as to professorial aspect. He was always well groomed. And his whiskers, fashioned a la Leopold, had fascinated the widow from the first. “You must have a reason for saying so,"’ she ventured, with a smile as amorous as the professor’s own. “I have many reasons,’’ he replied. truth, which should always be spoken. Again, I would marry you. Could I marry an unbeautiful woman?’’ He rose grace- fully, moved closely enough to kiss her, performed that widely- popular and often pleasing act with an expertness and grace all his own, and stood waiting. “‘Ah!"" sighed the widow, and she kissed him back, rising to do so. ‘‘But have you heard the news? Iam not rich. IfI “One of them is the comicbooks.com