Judge, 1917-01-13 · page 14 of 28
Judge — January 13, 1917 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains WWI-era humor and satire from Judge magazine. Key elements: **Top cartoon**: Shows American soldiers with German prisoners of war. The joke plays on "bosch" (German slur for Germans, from "Deutscher"), suggesting prisoners spoke their native language—mild ethnic humor typical of wartime publications. **"War and Real War"**: Satirizes American soldiers' priorities. A soldier returning from the brutal Somme trenches chooses a Mexican border posting for "relaxation" over going home—absurdist commentary on military life's strange logic. **Other pieces**: "Too Much Like It" compares life to the ocean (both make you cough and risk drowning)—pessimistic wit. "Scandal" defines it cynically as wrongdoing people deny. Love songs and domestic jokes round out lighter content. The page reflects 1917-1918 American attitudes: casual ethnic stereotyping, wry acceptance of war's brutality, and domestic romantic comedy as cultural counterweight.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
they passed? Linda's Love Songs HEN I go courting Linda Claire, I spraddle out across a chair, And set there like a moon-struck fool, While she winds up the p’anner stool, And lets her pink, slim fingers tease Plum raptures from them ivory keys! Say, that old box of fiddle-strings Gets up and humps itself and sings. It purrs, it chimes, it yells and yi But—Look whose hands are on its lips! It squawls in love-sick, passionate throes, But look who's tromping on its toes! If I was in that keyboard’s place, A-gazing up at Linda’s face; And being pedalled by her toe, *Twould set my singing heart aglow; If I was where that p’anna stands, And felt her dear, caressing hands, I know my tingling nerves would hum, With music sweet as Kingdom Come; I'd throb and sob and sigh within, And vibrate like a violin; While through my veins the blood would lope, A-thundering like y-ope. —Charles Leroy Edson. Mary had a little lamb—but she went and swapped it for a 1917 model. First Tommy—Say, Herb, you understand a little German. What were “bte German prisoners saying as Second Tommy—Oh, they were talking a lot of “* bosch.” Too Much Like It 66] IFE,” said the grandiloquent op- timist, “‘is like the glorious ocean.” “Yes,” said the tough-minded_pes- simist, “just like it. You can’t go any- where without coughing up, and when you’re on top you're worried to death for fear you'll go to the bottom.” Scandal “Father, what is scandal?” “Scandal, my son, is something which people do, thinking they will not get caught, and which is talked about by other people War and Real War HE American who had been in the trenches somewhere along the Somme front for six months had returned to his own country. “Well, old chap,” said a friend, “I suppose now that you have done your bit, you’ve come home to forget it.” “Not at all,” was the quiet response, “T’'m going back again, but I’ve got a sixty day furlough and I want to spend it with the boys down on the Mexican border for a needed relaxation with- out excitement.” who would do the same thing if they were not afraid they would get caught.” Her Tastes Willis —Does psychology in- terest your wife? Gillis—If it is fashionable this season and costs over five dollars a yard it does. Mistress yourself Maid—Well. not exactly, mum. I don’t see why you are leaving me, Nora. Do you expect to better I'm going to get married. comicbooks.com