Judge, 1915-01-16 · page 5 of 24
Judge — January 16, 1915 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes Prohibition-era hypocrisy in a "dry town" (where alcohol is banned). The top image shows men gathered outside a church in winter, apparently as "circumstantial evidence" before a grand jury—likely caught visiting an illegal speakeasy or bootlegger. The story "Averting a Calamity" mocks how people rationalize serving alcohol at home. Mrs. Digby complains about her servant's coffee, gravy, and cooking, then reveals she's worried the servant will hear her discussing serving liquor to guests. The humor targets the absurdity of Prohibition enforcement and the contradiction between public abstinence laws and private drinking. The bottom cartoon, "It Certainly is Hard to Preserve Neutrality," shows three fashionably-dressed women, likely depicting how difficult it was maintaining social appearances during Prohibition's unpopular restrictions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SO SPAN oe.) CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE BEFORE A GRAND JURY IN A DRY TOWN Averting a Calamity 66] OOK at this roast !"’ exclaimed Digby, in atone of supreme disgust at his dinner table. **As black as my hat on the on the inside “Sh-sh-sh!"" said Mrs. Digby, as she shook one finger toward Digby. ‘*She will hear you if you are not eful.*" “*And look at that dish of mashed pc added Digby. of wood ashes and lumpy and not half soned and"* “Do speak lower, James!"’ said Mrs. Digby, with her eye on the door between the dining room and the kitchen. ‘She I think that she he color will be sure to hear you! is always listening."* stuff she has put on in the It has half an inch of ng around on top of it, It's no more “Look at this name of gra clear grease floa and it is the color of putty! like the rich, brown gravy we have served with meat at the club!) And t your eye on that soggy mess she calls bread! It would give a goat indigestion to eat her bread, and*’ sak lower, James, if you must talk I thought I heard a step out in the entry, and I have an idea she is there, hearing every word you say “And her coffee! Of all the sloppy, tasteless, lukewarm stuff I ever did drink in the name of coffee, hers is the And if she ever again puts such a sickening mess on the table and calls it pie as she put on last night, I'll swear if 1 limit! don't’ —— “Sh-sh-sh! I feel sure I heard her in the entry. You simply must not allow her to hear you, James, for she has a temper that is a cross between that of a hyena and a rattlesnake. Some days I am afraid to go near the kitchen. She swore dreadfully to-day because I wanted to make a cake, and I think she had been drinking again and—Sh-sh-sh-sh, James! She will she does hear me “What if she does, man? She would leave at once, that's what she would do! Do you get me, James? I know her well enough to know that she would certainly leave if she heard you! Now I guess you will keep still!” —Maz Merryman. IT CERTAINLY IS HARD TO PRESERVE NEUTRALITY comicbooks.com