Judge, 1917-10-20 · page 9 of 28
Judge — October 20, 1917 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a couple sitting awkwardly on a sofa—a woman in evening dress on the left, a man in formal attire on the right—separated and clearly disengaged from each other. The title "Room and Bored" is a pun: they have physical space between them but lack engagement or connection. The surrounding satirical pieces mock various social types: a man whose practical jokes backfire on someone larger; a callous brute indifferent to others' suffering; an Arctic explorer avoiding banquets (mocking exploration narratives); a doctor's patient who can't afford iron supplements because iron prices have risen (likely referencing post-WWI inflation); and poems about masculine "club" refuge from women and the compulsion to save/invest. The overall theme is social disconnection and malaise—particularly between genders and regarding post-war economic anxieties. The "Kultur" illustration of an iron worker napping suggests leisure and working-class life. These pieces collectively satirize modern social awkwardness, economic hardship, and the failure of romance and companionship in contemporary life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
peewee ee) Refuge [3 29° of old when mammals bold Raged up and down the earth. ‘The mastodon kept on the run A mortal from his birth; When lizards big as Murphy’s pig And turtles like a tub A-mucking ran—then primal man Found safety in his club later days, when brown eyes blaze Beneath a feathered brow, When things in fur are deadlier, Ors When w so anyhow, je dear gets on her ear And calls her hub a dub— Like primal men, the wise man then Finds safety in his club. —Douglas Malloch. Miscalculation? “He's a practical joker, isn’t he?” “Not very practical; he tried one of his jokes on a guy larger than himself.” The Brute “He's indifferent to suffering.” “Not to his own, I'll bet.” ROOM AND BORED Kultur . All that is humorous is not human. The structural iron worker takes his Sunday after- noon outing and nap on the Palisades. Beyond His Reach Physician—You need more iron in your blood. Patient—But, doc, I can't afford it. It’s gone up twenty dollars a ton, Fear “That Arctic explorer has been gone four years now.” “Maybe he’s afraid to come back on account of the banquets.” And Shows 'Em as she any good points?” “No, only curves.” Habit SCRIMPED and scraped and saved beyond My very wildest expectation, And then I went and bought a bond With patriot exhilaration. I've got the saving habit so The thought of it I cannot smother, So by and by I know I'll go— I know I'll go and buy another! —Clinton Scollard.