Judge, 1916-09-02 · page 21 of 28
Judge — September 2, 1916 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a Bell Telephone advertisement disguised as editorial content. It references John Milton's famous lines from *Paradise Lost* ("They also serve who only stand and wait") to create a metaphorical connection between Milton's blind servitude and telephone workers' invisible labor. The ad argues that telephone operators and infrastructure workers, though unseen, perform essential service—much as Milton claimed even those who "stand and wait" serve a purpose. The invocation of the 17th-century blind poet lends dignity to modern telephone workers' unglamorous but vital roles. The accompanying illustration shows Milton dictating to his daughter, creating a sentimental historical parallel meant to ennoble contemporary telephone company employees and justify their labor as part of a grand communicative vision spanning the continent. The satire is subtle: the ad dignifies worker servitude through literary allusion while advancing corporate messaging about universal service and system readiness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Mrs. wonder usband a farm, thing I ginsby -on his of him! when it me the laint if he city Urying jartin's allows? p make hipped | loys harged. afraid since me if trip in in one le you 4 jissimo ‘ou are le lips rorld.” statti ) cua (ELLULOID SONNETS FORD STERLING ally it would be a sin Pee abuse of License 98, Should | compel my muse immaculate To sonnetize that spinach on your chin. fad yet. your fory wink and knowing grin— Which others strive in vain to imitate— Are worth a line or two, I calculate, And some encomiums from me should win I gadly toss a gaudy-hued bouquet To those who make more joy upon this earth; As squire and constabule and sporty jay Your antics swell the sum of human mirth. ded though you are a Ford, I'm free to say You are a cut-up guy of Sterling worth —W. Kee Maxwell The True Millennium HE true Millennium when it comes will not be one great big all-em- bracing Millennium, but a whole lot of little Millenniums. Anything else would be just an imitation Millennium. The reason for this is casily dear, A Millennium, if it means thing worthy of its mellifluous nam acertain blissful state of affairs spread- ing over the surface of the earth where everybody, having exactly what he wants, perfectly satisfied. But we quickly discover as we go about talking to the reformers and the idealists and the soci- yleaders and the bridge experts and the ns that no two of them want the ing; that unless each one of them $ just the right kind of Millennium, he will be mad and won't play. There- fore, it is obvious that the same Millen- nium, even if it were a bang-up good one, would not do for all of them, Such a situation presents egre; ious, but not nes ily insurmountabl ficulties, thaps these could be over- come by having a large public storehouse fullof an unlimited assortment of Millen- tiums in all shapes and sizes where a man could go, pick out exactly the kind of Millennium he liked, tir price for it,take it home and have it for his very own. Some of our wealthier citizens could even have a sep: Millennium ‘ach member of the the cook, too, provided she would agree to stay for a reasonable length of time and not burn the roast.—Ellis O. Jones. made BLIND MILTON DICTATING UGHTER From the origina! by ately ta ROSAS Library The Vision of the Blind and wait.” The Bell Telephone is your servant even while it “only stands and waits.” The whole system is always prepared and ready for your instant command. “‘Thousands at his bidding speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.”” Was the spirit of prophecy upon John Milton when, more than two hundred and fifty years ago, he dic- tated those words to his daughter? Every wire and switchboard and telephone instrument is kept alive and responsive by an army of tele- phone workers. Each one has his special part to do and, because he does it faithfully, countless messages speed throughout the length and breadth of the land, at every minute of the day and night. Did the “blind poet” have a vision of the millions of telephone messages speeding instantly over hundreds and thousands of miles of wire spanning the continent? “They also serve who only stand SEIU AMERICAN TELEPHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES One Policy One System Universal Service MANHATTAN SQUARE HOTEL 50 to 58 West 77th Street, New York spyeste ese of Hater Bate ‘ t At all newsstands NOW. September Boer oournr es Published by LESLIE-JUDGE CO. 1A@ ORDS aE, xs Pins 20% DOWN 102 A MONTH [BESO ‘The most beautiful Diamonds are the Bl es comicbooks.com