Judge, 1917-03-24 · page 6 of 28
Judge — March 24, 1917 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines satirical commentary on urban life with humor pieces. The top illustration shows exaggerated figures performing acrobatic feats, likely satirizing the frenetic pace of city living or financial speculation. "Big Town Savings" mocks urban pretensions and social climbing, suggesting city dwellers use buzzwords like "bargain" to justify excessive consumption. The piece critiques how city folk adopt affected language and behaviors, contrasting them unfavorably with practical country people. "Cause for Irritation" features a character expressing frustration about political disagreement during wartime, suggesting war-related tensions divided public opinion. The lower cartoon depicts a car accident, with characters arguing about blame—typical slapstick humor about modern automobile chaos and the disputes it generates. The page blends social satire with light comedy reflecting 1920s urban anxieties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BIG TOWN By ARTHUR BIG TOWN man will take it all for granted when you tell him how many stories there are in a tall building. but aman from the country will count every floor to make sure the statement is correct Advertising one’s-self as an all-round man does very well in the country, but in the Big 2 Town it is the surest way not to get a job. A metropolis is any town that is crowded enough so that its supply of sleeping porches is lo’ The Big Town woman feels that she is making real progress toward happiness when she gets a jewel safe in her bedroom. The country housewife thinks likewise when she gets running water in the kitchen. “Bargain” is the word that is used more than any other in the Big Town, in all probability, yet it is doubtful if the word ever materializes into a reality. The steps to the theaters in the Big Town wear out con- siderably sooner than the library steps. Slang is an exclusive Big Town product. Dictionaries would never expand if word coinage were left to country people. Put a brass plate on a famous man’s birthplace in the Big ‘Town and not one passerby out cf ten thousand will it. The dodo may come back, but the housewife’s market- basket in the Big Town will never put in appearance ain. When a Big Town man on a vacation tries mountain climbing he always looks around for the elevator boy just before beginning the ascent. The man who has a cable address can always create a sensation by springing one of his letter-heads on the folks back in the old home town. No publication has ever printed the actual travel record of the man who started the See America First. movement. Probably he was, or is, a confirmed backyard vacationist. In former years a poct had to stare out of his attic win- dow at the sky to get inspiration, but now all he has to do is (o invest a copper replica of Lo or President I the latest newspaper and get material for se of comic or heroic mold. We can’t all bathe in white tiled bathrooms, but the poorest of us can eat in a white tiled quick lunch place. SAYINGS CHAPMAN incoln in 1 poems CAUSE FOR IRRITATION \ID old Festus Pester: ‘What exasperates me more than anything else about the blockheads who differ with and from me on politics, religion, weather omens, the cause and probable duration of the war, and the gulf toward which we are rapidly and inevitably drifting, is that they are so infernally proud of their foolishness! Uncertain Visitor—What kind of a fellow is this Judge Bump? Backwoods Citizen—He's too durn uncertain, You never can tell in advance on a law suit just which side he is for. Well Meant She—Why, Colonel, I'm a grandmothe He (gallantly)—Well, believe me, you don’t look than you always have. Jokum—Gracious! your mud guard is all smashed ! into something ? Bunkum—No. skidded into us. Did you bump ‘We were standing perfectly still and a fire hydrant