Judge, 1914-12-05 · page 9 of 36
Judge — December 5, 1914 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon satirizes early cinema's technical limitations. A cameraman films Santa Claus emerging from a chimney for a movie, but must reshoot because "the other film was spoiled." The joke mocks how film production was still primitive and unreliable—multiple takes were necessary because footage could be damaged or defective. The accompanying story features "Doris," an orphan raised on "the uplift schedule" (progressive/reform ideology emphasizing modern efficiency). When she witnesses a traditional, sentimental Christmas celebration—plum pudding, decorated tree, gift-giving Santa—she's bewildered, asking "How does one go about it?" The satire targets early-20th-century social reformers and their earnest but sterile approaches to child welfare. The humor lies in contrasting their joyless "uplift" philosophy with the warm, messy humanity of old-fashioned Christmas traditions. The implication: progressive ideology, however well-intentioned, strips away genuine human experience and wonder.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Clanmane Livtmory— ed IT HAS COME TO THIS “Say, Santa, old man, would you mind going down and coming up again? The other film was spoiled. spread with brown turkeys, cranberry sauce, pumpkin and mince pies, cakes, candies and ice cream. ‘“*What are orphans, nurse?’’ asked Doris wonderingly. “They are persons without famili plained the nurse. Just then a huge plum padding was brought in, and a Christmas tree blazed out with myriads of lights, It was hung with old-fashioned popcorn balls of many colors, dolls and trumpets, and a stagy-looking Santa Cluas, witha far-trimmed coat, came in through a tem- Porary fireplace at the back of the room and began to give out the things to the children, who danced off with glee, each hugging a toy from off the wonderful tree. Doris looked on with big eyes. She had been brought up on the uplift schedule and knew nothing of this kind of Christmas. “‘How does one go about it?’’ she in- quires “Go about what?’’ asked the nurse, taking the child’s tem- perature, for her eyes looked so strange. “Why, this orphan thing,’’ replied Doris. A Clean Bill “How about the to that, nobody ain’t never ketched noth- in’ at my haouse what hadn't been brought there by some outsider.”” Experience teaches a lot of things we never cared to learn. sanitary conditions at your hotel? Is every- thing healthy?" asked Jimpson. “‘Waal,’’ said the rural proprietor, ‘‘as MUTUALITY Hte—I'd like to have you wait on me always. She—Strange, | was thinking the same thing of you. comicbooks.com