Judge, 1917-03-17 · page 9 of 28
Judge — March 17, 1917 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes **Jewish immigrant experiences** and social aspirations in early 20th-century America. The main dialogue features two Yiddish-inflected characters—Markowitz and Henry—discussing the material demands of wives and the ostentatious wealth displays of the wealthy. The satire targets **conspicuous consumption**: Markowitz complains that his wife Minnie demands diamonds and mink coats comparable to those worn by wealthy Jewish neighbors (Mrs. Katz, Mrs. Epstein). He boasts about visiting palatial estates with multiple bathrooms and rooms, yet reveals he spent his vacation playing pinochle indoors—the humor deriving from his pretense of sophistication while admitting ignorance of actual luxury. The cartoon at top illustrates the opening joke about overhearing girls giggling, capturing male self-consciousness about appearance. The small cartoon at bottom shows a car salesman's aside about refusing convertible models seasonally—a non sequitur suggesting the commercial world's indifference to customers' vanities. The piece uses ethnic dialect and character stereotypes typical of era humor, mocking both immigrant aspirations and American materialism.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ns Recaps: How we imagine we look when we hear a couple of girls behind us giggling a husband has got to pay only follows the thermometer one way—always up! The hotel bills ain’t alles. Diamonds you got to buy all the time for them. You know, Henry, from the p I just’ come I saw a woman what weighed about a half ton before dinner, but she weighed a ton by the din- le on account of ner the stones she put on.” “Maybe them fat ladies think they make themselves lighter with them bright diamonds,” jested Henry. "You, with your jokes!” gesticulated Markowitz, earnestly. ingle feller like you can laugh, but if you would see how Minnie was bothering me to get her a mink coat longer than Mrs. Katz’s and diamond earrings bigger than Mrs, Epstein’s, Katz, the cutthroat's daughter-in-law, you would laugh on the other side of the ledger. Why them weiber was all wearing diamonds that they looked like they stole all the government soich lights what was supposed to protect the Atlantic Ocean— just like Statues of Liberty, all lit up. And when they would come in the parlor with the brilliantene breast plates, golden handeufls and fiery ear-lights to play whist or tell about the greatness of their daughter's husband’s familics, the hotel keeper would order the porter to toin out the lights and nobody would notice i “But when there was such fine diamonds wasn’t there fine cottages also by where you was?” interposed Henry, switching the conversation on a new tangent so as to prolong it as much as possible. Cott xclaimed Markowitz, mockin, ‘alaces, not cottages! The stable from one of the places wouldn't be ashamed to stand on Fifth Avenue and give every millionaire’s house a couple hundred points ahead. If I had the money what the fences cost I wouldn't care if Minnie took a thousand vaca- tions every season. They got so many rooms in them palaces that they got a separate room for playing pinochle with a kitty and another one for playing it without a kitt E got a separate house with three baths “And every bath has got seven different kinds of water,” broke in Henry, smilingly. “What do you think, I’m blufing you?” cried Markowitz, angrily. “Yes, every soivant —” asy, Max, easy!” cautioned Henry, “if it w Minnie’s expenses must have cost you a fortune No, that’s where you got wrong,” proudly retorted Marko- This whole winter vacation didn’t cost me a button.” you cating—skating, walking?” demanded lly, entirely forgetting his former state- so swell, witz, “What wa: Henry sarcast ments. “I was playing pinochle in the house, day and night, all the three days I was by Minnie and made expenses for every- thing. hen how do you know about them palaces with a hun- dred baths and a million pines and looking-glass lakes and——” “Yes, it’s a classy-looking model; but I don’t want an open car at this time of the year.”