Judge, 1916-08-05 · page 8 of 28
Judge — August 5, 1916 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous article satirizes the absurd consumer culture around golf in the 1920s. The author mocks how golf clubs exploit newcomers by selling them excessive, unnecessary equipment—multiple pairs of trousers, shirts, stockings, and shoes—creating an unwieldy costume that actually prevents playing the sport. The embedded cartoon illustrates this absurdity: a golfer so overloaded with gear that he must be towed by car, prompting the joke "don't you think it would be easier to tow a garage to you?"—suggesting he's carrying the entire pro shop. The satire targets both golf's pretentious social status and commercialism: the $100 membership fee, the pushy salesman, and the elaborate "ancient and honorable sport" ritual that paradoxically makes the game unplayable. The author's repeated attempts to don layers of clothing in bushes emphasizes the ridiculousness of the whole enterprise.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AND ITS By WILBUR OME TIME last spring the genial and talented editor of Jupce asked me if I wouldn’t prepare for this highly popular publication a helpful article on golf. When the editor of Jupcr makes a request the worthy contributor should consider it a command, a requisi- tion or an assignment—or, as the more advanced writer would term it, a commission. Therefore, I have endeavored to qualify myself properly to write on golf as one having authority. Not knowing anything about the game at the time, I took the first step by becom- ing a member of a golf club. This cost me $100 admission fee and $80 dues for the first year. I then took counsel of a friend, who was one of my sponsors for mem- bership. “What do I need now?” I asked him. “Well,” he said, “my golf outfit consists of a set of clubs, a bag, some balls, a cap, a sweater, two pairs of trousers, a jacket, a half dozen sport shirts, four pairs of golf stockings and two pairs of golf shoes. With that outfit I think you will get along all right.” It did not take very long to secure the out- fit. The genial salesman in a golf-goods emporium was most willing to have them delivered to me. Being a man who shuns publicity, I repaired to a far corner of the golf course, with my goods and chattels, and began to assemble myself for the an- cient and honorable sport. By a series of deft manipulations, in the shelter of a clump of bushes, I was able to divest mysclf of my business attire and to don the golfing uniform, in sec- BA// oz Ao Yi old man, do you mind towing me to a garage? n't you think it would be easier to tow a garage to you? SF P= £) THE BEASTLY DIFFICULTIES D. NESBIT tions, so to speak. First, my business trousers were replaced by one pair of the golf trousers, then my business shirt by a sport shirt. Having laid this foundation, it was easy to proceed. I found that the four pairs of golf stockings gave to my legs a rather bulky appearance, and when I put on the second pair of golf trousers the bulky feeling was only emphasized. My friend who advised me may know all about golf, but I want to say that when a man puts on six golf shirts he is coming close to overdoing it. And when on top of these you must add a sweater and a golf jack- cet you certainly bundle yourself up a bit. The cap, thank heaven, was a solitaire affair. What I would have done had he prescribed three or fourcaps I do not know. And how in the name of time a man can wear rs of golf shoes at once passes my com- prehension. Of course, if one pair were very large it could be slipped over theother likea pair of overshoes, but unfor- tunately I had secured both pairs of the same size. AndasT had allowed the shoes to wait until the last—that is, one pair of them—I was so bundled up that it was simply impossible for me to reach my fect. So I put the extra pair of golf shoes in the package with my business clothes, and was ready to play. Placing the half dozen balls on the ground I began trying to bat them up, but there was so much sweater and jacket and shirts under my arms and across my chest that I could not reach the ground with the end of the club. With the ingenuity for [ f. LEED oh | a SS Step Xo 9X SB ASS Wer is comicbooks.com