Judge, 1917-12-01 · page 8 of 36
Judge — December 1, 1917 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This WWI-era page satirizes American attitudes toward Christmas during wartime. **Top cartoon** (by Nelson White): An eagle carrying an American shield pursues a fleeing German imperial eagle, symbolizing America's military dominance—a visual punchline about replacing "mock democracy" with German autocracy ("Hohenzollern"). **Left column** ("Yule Tide Musings"): Contrasts German militarism (celebrating violence) with American ideals (peace and goodwill), while critiquing domestic complacency about wartime sacrifice. **Right column** ("They Met at Biffany's"): Two women worry about accidentally revealing how much they spent on Christmas gifts—one forgot to remove price tags. The joke's dark edge emerges when they discuss sending baked goods to soldiers in France; the ship was sunk by Germans, making the woman's efforts literally wasted. **Bottom photograph** ("A Battle in the Land of Nod"): Appears to be a theatrical or toy scene depicting miniature war, reinforcing the page's theme of treating serious warfare with cultural distance. The overall message critiques American distance from war's real costs.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
YULE TIDE MUSINGS RE another Christmas has rolled around we shall have taken the mock out of democracy and put hoe in Hohen- zollern. The Huns, true to their natural instincts, toasted the day when they shoul sacre unsuspecting men, women and children. The civilized world celebrates the day of peace and good will toward men. svery man we send to the front is a herald of peace and This is the day when wife pensively remembers what splendid gifts the other fellow alwa her; when hubby thinks with a shudder of the cigars he is expected to smoke and when grandma sighs for the dear old days when old-fashioned Christmas hospitality was not a myth —G. Gabelle A BATTLE “YATHAT makes you look so worried, E “I've just mailed a thirty-nine. Christmas present, and I’m afraid I left the cost, tag on it.” “That’s nothing. I've just expressed my rich uncle a present for which I paid a hundred dollars, and I’m afraid I removed the cost tag.”” NOT WASTED “ ALL my Christmas efforts were lost,” says the girl “1 baked a lot of cakes and cookics—my very first efforts— and sent them to our soldiers in France, and now I learn tha the ship was sunk by the Germans after they had removed the freight aboard. “Don’t worry,” advi Germans will eat the stuff.” PS s the sour friend. ‘Maybe the IN THE LAND