Judge, 1917-06-16 · page 15 of 28
Judge — June 16, 1917 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This domestic comedy depicts a marital argument between Mr. and Mrs. Binger over his frequent business travel. Mrs. Binger resents that her husband claims to work while actually playing golf, and that he only invites her on summer trips. She suspects his travels are leisure disguised as business. The satire targets early 20th-century marital tensions around gender roles: wives confined to home life while husbands enjoy freedom under the guise of professional duty. Mrs. Binger's threat to take her own Atlantic City trip—and Mr. Binger's quick capitulation with cash—mocks both spouses' superficial compromise. The title's "surreptitious" suggests their mutual deceptions: his hidden golf trips and her concealed resentment. The cartoon ridicules the hypocrisy of an era where respectability masked leisure pursuits.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OU By W yer OU’RE always enjoying life, while I... .” “There you go! I guess you get your share of enjoyment all right!” Mrs. Binger had courageously started some- thing. Binger’s tone put her on the defensive. She sniffed as women sniff before tears. “But can you deny you have a good time on the road?” had come, and Mrs. Binger rubbed her nose until it was red and nullified a perfectly good job of powdering. When she was free of lachrymal suggestion she good to look at. “Good time, ch? I should say so! Catching trains at all hours of the night, getting into hotels when service is asleep. chasing street cars with no cab in sight—great sport! You an original idea of fun!” “But you never ask me to take a trip with you except in the summer, and even then you take a golf kit and are out of sight all the time! “ How in blazes could you travel with me, I'd like to know, and go through what I have to contend with?” “But you needn't tell me you don’t have good times on the road, John Binger!”” Mrs. Binger had dried her eyes and recovered initiative st night, when Bill Burleigh and you were talking. “Bill is going to Chicago with me. good deal.” T hav We travel together a i S HOLIDAYING 1LDRON Lf . I know. But what were you two whispering and laughing about?” “Can’t men who are business pals tell each other a funny story without exciting suspicion?” “Fine stories they must be when you whisper them! And now you say you're going to Chicago for two weeks on business. But I notice you’ve got your golf kit ready to take with you.” “Haven't I told you the best way to sell goods is to play golf with men who buy?” ““\ good excuse! And the only word I expect from you is now and then a wire saying you're too busy to write!” “You know well enough why I don’t write. I dictated a nice, long, loving letter to you from St. Louis, and the moment I got home you asked me what the stenographer looked like!” “ And you told me she was a stunning blonde about nineteen years old!” “And a fool I was for being honest! You imagined I had asked her out to dinner and blown her to the theatre!” “Very well. I'm going somewhere also this time. tired of staying alone.” “Allright. But the golf stuff is amusing. your size. Atlantic City is a good place for you. ‘And Binger proved this by handing her three bills with yellow I'm Bridge i: I'm wi