Judge — October 23, 1915 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes class pretension and golf culture among the wealthy. A woman golfer uses an ornate "fancy putter," which Clara questions as unnecessary. Clarence's response—"It's the only way I can show anything fancy about my putting"—is the joke: his actual golf skill is mediocre, so he compensates by using an expensive, showy club to create an impression of sophistication. The humor targets the nouveaux riches who substitute visible luxury and affectation for genuine ability or breeding. Brookline Country Club was an exclusive Massachusetts golf club, emphasizing the upper-class setting. The illustration, credited to Hilldman, captures early 20th-century anxieties about status display and the gap between appearance and substance in high society.