Judge, 1916-07-01 · page 11 of 28
Judge — July 1, 1916 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The top cartoon depicts a street scene where a young boy offers to "hold yer coat" while his father (labeled "pop") appears ready for a physical fight—a common working-class scenario of the era. The humor lies in the child's eager, naive participation in adult male violence. The main essay "Above All Other Things" is satirical social commentary attacking American materialism and status anxiety. It sarcastically argues that maintaining false appearances through luxury spending—apartments, automobiles, club memberships—matters more than living within one's means. The piece mocks how people prioritize impressing others over financial reality, claiming this dishonesty brings social advancement and freedom from conscience. The scattered short pieces below (poems, brief dialogues) are typical Judge humor: "Wouldn't Work" mocks a man whose plans fail; "The Thief" discusses deception; "The First Quarrel" shows newlywed conflict. The photograph captioned "At the Girls' Training Camp" shows a pacifist father lamenting his daughter's military training—likely referencing WWI-era women's military service preparation, contrasting parental pacifism with nationalist duty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ul “Don’t start writin’ notes, now, pop. I'll hold yer coat!” Above All Other Things BOVE ALL other things, you should your. ver! » keep up spensable nowadays. You may rest as- sured that the world will mis- judge you by the appearances you keep up and that. your progress de- pends almost entirely upon what the world Do not allow some vision- strive appearances. takes you for. ary to foozle you into believing that you should make some effort to live within your means. When did your means ever do anything for you? There is no fu- ture in one’s means. You cannot climb at any satisfactory rate without the aid of the false impressions you make upon influential people. [tis the business of your means to keep you down and to belittle the appearance that your heart yearns for If you insist upon living within your means you will have to give up your luxurious apartments, your automobile, your club memberships, and your vacs- tion, Ii you will only keep on keepit up appearances you may have all these things —and more. Morcover, you will barnacle to yourself new friends that will tell you of many desirable things that you have never dreamed of. Your new friends will also be able to teach you many clever ways of keeping upappearances. ‘They will finally achieve for you an attitude of mind through which and in which you readily ignore your income and other base concerns. In the exhilarating atmosphere of things as they scem to be you will feel as free asan uncaged bird. The world will bow down you, and your common sense and your conscience will bother you no more. HW. Dee before Wouldn't Work Jones’ plans are decidedly: character- istic of the man.” How so?” “Why, they won't work.” The Thief airing glints of sun. how looks deceive one sweet and truc, Sad ishonest L the heart from you Sarah WK, Stans. The First Quarrel She (tearfully) —You said if Pd marry you. you'd be humbly grateful, and now He (sourly)—Well? You're grumbly hateful! ening to the Report “What became of that maga- zine of young Scribbler's?” “It blew up.” A Man of Letters (At College) OTHER wants me to write stories Which sister s Sweetheart wants me Which brother says I'll never sell Father wants me to write letters Reflecting credit on him, too. But I just want to ph my father, So all I write 1.0. Lou Rab: Long Ones He—Just one more s before I go. She—No; it’s now eleven, and | must get to bed by midnight. AT THE GIRLS’ TRAINING CAMP Pacifist popa—I did not raise my gitl to be a soldier. comicbooks.com