Judge, 1915-07-31 · page 6 of 28
Judge — July 31, 1915 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical pieces typical of early 20th-century Judge magazine humor: **Top cartoon ("Wire Busy"):** Shows a man struggling with barbed wire, illustrating the caption's pun about being literally "busy" with wire rather than figuratively occupied. The humor is visual wordplay. **"Responsibility" poem by Berton Braley:** A motivational verse emphasizing self-reliance and personal agency—reflecting Progressive Era ideals that success depends on individual effort, not luck or circumstance. **"A Hug Handicap":** A brief joke about a blonde woman repeatedly jabbing her ear on her boyfriend Percival's fountain pen—shallow humor based on blonde stereotypes and physical comedy. **"Safety First":** Social commentary mocking a miserly character who claims to always prioritize charity but conveniently keeps his hand in his pocket "until the danger is over"—satirizing hypocrisy about charitable giving. **Long letter excerpt:** Apparently a humorous complaint from a homeowner making endless renovation demands, illustrating domestic absurdity. The page reflects Judge's mix of motivational content, gentle domestic humor, and light social satire typical of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“ Boy, I don't see how you do it. You've caught a stringful, and I haven't caught one! '" ‘* Mebbe your maw don’t give ye Hail Columbia when you go home without any.’’ to cut a door between two of the bedrooms, the one next to mine. My little boy sleeps in the room next to mine, and he wakes up in the night and is afraid, and I have to go to him. If there was a door be- tween the two rooms, I could just call out to him, and he would keep still. And couldn’t you put in these new kind of window screens that slide right down into the wall and you can raise to any height and bring the window right down to them? My cousin has them in her house, and they are so much nicer than the old kind. I'd like to have new paper on the front hall and in the guest room, and I want to know if you would be willing to take that ugly stained-glass window out of the dining-room and put in a window of clear glass. I detest cheap stained glass, and I think that any kind of stained gl. +is out of place in a private house. And could you have new screen doors made and a little place built in the back entry for the refrigerator? There is a little closet that could be torn out and a refrigerator could go into a nice little alcove. I believe that is about all—just a few little changes that I think you ought to be willing to make, considering that we have been in the house nearly three months and have done so much ourselves. Only yesterday my husband put in a new washer in a bathroom faucet. Now, when can you send the men around to make these little changes?"" Responsibility T'S UP to you! Though luck, in each existence, = Is something that you cannot disregard, It doesn’t count much in the long, long distance That you must travel for your life's reward. Luck helps—of course—and they are blind who doubt it; But it’s yourself that has to bring you through. It’s your own life, and with luck or with- ‘out it, It’s up to you! It’s up to you! Nobody else can make it, Nobody else can fashion your career; And if you build it up, or if you break it, Your own responsibility is clear. It isn’t fate or fortune or your neighbor That brings success or failure to your view; You rise or fall by your own brains and labor. It’s up to you! A Hug Handicap Blondine—I wish Percival wouldn't wear a fountain pen in his breast pocket. Brunetta—Why? Blondine—1 am continually running the point into my ear. Safety First Hokus—Closefist claims that when char- ity is needed, he is always the first to put his hand in his pocket. Pokus—Yes; and he keeps it there ‘ill the danger is over. Berton Braley. “WIRE 9 WML Allison BUSY" comichooks.