Judge, 1915-02-27 · page 10 of 24
Judge — February 27, 1915 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century gender and social hypocrisy through multiple pieces: **"Modern Beau to Modern Belle"** (main poem by Stokeley S. Fisher): A man complains about female double standards. Women condemn vaudeville dancers' bare ankles as immoral, yet wear revealing bathing costumes themselves. They criticize stage dancing as indecent while singing suggestive popular songs. The satire mocks women's selective morality—they police others' behavior while engaging in the same conduct, expecting men to remain gentlemen despite this inconsistency. **"The Chief Problem Overcome"**: A brief joke about prioritizing a fancy name over actual construction details when building an apartment house—satirizing superficial marketing over substance. **"To Dan Cupid"** (by Tudor Jenks): A humorous letter suggesting Cupid modernize from bow-and-arrow to a rapid-fire gun because modern youth move too fast for traditional romance methods. The cartoons and short pieces collectively mock contemporary society's moral pretenses, changing customs, and the gap between stated values and actual behavior.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Modern Beau to Modern Belle I AM SADLY perplexed, I confess: The vaudeville show, you are sure, With its nude-ankled girls, is impure; But you on the shore will wear less— Acostume you're dainty and trim in, Too pretty and precious to swim in; Jp And chaperons, mothers | and all Are confessed by their frocks at the ball. You say the stage dance is indecent— Your sweet smile sours as you view it; | But the maids dan jone who trip | through it. But the women who romp in these recent | Mad revels rampant and chaotic, Timed to every motion erotic Of the native love dances, their hands Clasp a partner—and he understands! You sing me the popular airs— If I said the things they recite Or attempted the things they invite, Your father would kick me downstairs. And the ears need a wash of carbolic That hear—yet you sing them in frolic, And, of course, your young lips must be clean; But I wonder just what you can mean. I'm afraid I'm behind in my part; I'm your lover and not your censor. But to be an innocent fencer With the devil's a difficult art; And to dress in sin’s clothes just for show Is a new thing. I'm awkward, I know. Be patient and pardon me, pray, If I sometimes forget it is play. —Stokeley 8. Fisher, The Chief Problem Overcome “I've taken the most important step to- ward building a fashionable apartment house."” **Let the contract, have you?"’ I've selected a fancy name for the Two Classes of Art “Works of art are divided,” said the in- curable punster, ‘into two classes: The chromos and the Corot-mos."" IP HISTORY SHOULD REPEAT ITSELP, AND NOAH’S ARK WERE TO BE USED TO-DAY To Dan Cupid EAR DAN—Where are you nowadays? We used to like your sportive ways, When with your darts and little bow You took pot-shots at high and low! We even took it in good part Though now and then a flying dart Struck stinging home. ‘Twas pleasant when The tiny wound was healed again. But now the arrows are so rare That once seemed flying everywhere! Perhaps you need to-day, my son, A modern rapid-fire gun. Dobad ste Aagers “* [think your husband dresses so nicely and quietly."* “* Really ?- You should hear bim when he loses a collar button! "* The times are changed. No longer slow, Our youth are never still, you know. So if you'd add hearts to your string, You'll have to hit them on the wing! But whether bow or gun you wield, We hope to see you take the field, For life is rather dull and gray Without you and your sportive play. When you your mother Venus see, With kindly words remember me; And while this mortal life endures, I'll sign myself, sincerely yours. —Tudor Jenks. His Strange Notion ‘‘My nephew, Wadley Weams, has a queer theory,’’ grumbled the old codger. ‘He'll argue by the hour that by the exercise of kindness and patience a hired man can be tamed and domesticated, 0 that he will become of real assistance on the farm!"" All There “*She talks like a book."’ “Yes, the volume of her speech is truly wonderful!”