Judge, 1915-10-30 · page 18 of 28
Judge — October 30, 1915 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects humorous anecdotes from European publications, reflecting early WWI anxieties and social commentary circa 1914-1918. **Key themes:** **Military anxieties:** The Venice cartoon jokes about German U-boats (submarines) in the Grand Canal—reflecting fears of German naval warfare. The French piece about a child digging trenches near begonias darkly references trench warfare's ubiquity in public consciousness. **Home front tensions:** A "Trade Union Regulations" cartoon satirizes labor disputes during wartime, pitting union loyalty against patriotic duty—a genuine social conflict of the period. **Gender and class humor:** Several jokes involve upper-class leisure (boredom, bathing) disrupted by war, and servants/working-class figures with comedic dialect. **Colonial commentary:** The Bombay climate joke reflects British imperial perspectives on India. The page demonstrates how wartime satire simultaneously mocked enemy threats, questioned civilian priorities, and reinforced class hierarchies through humor—typical of Judge magazine's middle-class satirical approach to global conflict.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
In Venice Mister Gonboliere! Sein auch feine *U-Boots Germans und Austrians im Canal grande? “Oh, I say, gondolier! Are there any submarines in the Grand Canal?"—Jugend (Munich) i de vous présenter, mad: bommag et toutes mes excuses. jétais dans mon tub lorsque cet aviatik esi surprendre. Permit me to offer you my homage, madame... and my excuses... . But I was in my tub when that aviator sur- prised us.—Le Rire (Paris). “Vous avez corrigé Boby?” . “ Madame, il a creusé une tranchée pris des bégonias et y a pas moyen de l'approcher.”” “You have punished Bobby?” “Madame, he has dug a trench near the begonias and there is no way to approach him!"—Le Rire (Paris). Very Unhealthy We cull the following from a French pa- per: “The climate of Bomba y that the inhabitants are obliged to live else- where.” —Calcutta Englishman. “You are bored, my dear?” “Yes. When we came to the sea, you promised *me divertisement.” « “That's true. But am I to bl the fleet hasn't come to bore us: (Turin). because Vumero TRADE UNtow Recutations Limitation First Munition Worker—Look here, mate, you're working too hard. You're a taitor to your union. Second Ditto—Well, Vd sooner be that than a traitor to my country. Punch (Lordon). Of One Trade Doctor—-How do you feel, Colonel, when you actually kill a man? Colonel—Oh, not so bad. How do you? —London Chiravari, Hevident “Wot do they call the chap wot cries ‘Silence in court,’ Bill?” . “Silly ass, arskin’ that; w’y, ‘the Husher, of course. Hain’t it hevident?”—London Opinion.