Judge, 1918-10-19 · page 24 of 32
Judge — October 19, 1918 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page collects soldiers' and sailors' jokes submitted to Judge's contest (paying $1 per joke, $5 weekly prize). The humor targets military recruits and their cultural unfamiliarity with service life. **Key jokes:** - **"The Army Way"**: A groggy private asks for more sleep when ordered to dress in two minutes—mocking new recruits' difficulty adjusting to military discipline. - **"The Impressionist"**: An Italian recruit, unaware that blue cords signify infantry, wears a red cord instead. When corrected, he insists he "like da red better"—ethnic humor playing on language barriers and rookie ignorance. - **"The City-Bred Mariner"**: A landlubber confuses nautical distances ("a block or two blocks"), treating the sea like city streets—mocking urban recruits' incompetence in military contexts. - **Other sketches**: Similar themes of confused recruits misunderstanding military terminology or procedures. The page satirizes the gap between civilian and military life, with humor aimed at rookies' naïveté rather than officers or policy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
) ‘Tent and Deck Wheezes [tilitapy and Navel 4 je pcr pays $1 each for original jokes sent by soldiers and sailors and accepted J for publication, and cach week $5 is awarded for the best original joke received e Army Wa: Bam! The Impressionist t y Way > By Liner. Joux D. Cenris By Pex. Wauisas Bacar, Co, E, 59th Pioneers Inf., Camp Dis S| IRST Sergeant (standing beside bunk of aan ‘ private who had been late for reveille the ‘. HE new recruits got their whole outfit ; past week)—Thompson, why are you not up their hat cords. They didn’t want the re: * and dressed and ready to fall out? the boys to know that they were rookies, so th ; Private Thompson (with a stretch and yawn, went to the canteen and bought blue cords » looking up at the sergeant)—Why, what time is which stand for the infantry. One Italian bo; iH it, Sergeant? , stood up at reveille the next morning with Sergeant—You have just two minutes to get a red cord. The captain called him out and ! dressed and be out in line. said: ; Private Thompson (stretching and falling back “Tony, don’t you know that you should have a blue cord on your hat instead of a red one?” But Tony said, saluting the captain: “Me like da red better dan da blue.” in bed)—Oh, gee! One more minute to sleep! The City-Bred Mariner Drawn by Per. Mitt Gross, Co. F, 64th Infantry, A. E. F. Sergeant—Missed it again! Y’ wanna ruin that axe hittin’ th’ dirt all the time? This Week’s $5 Prize Winner In Pastures New By Sapren Jack A. MacLscutas, B Co. AERB, CETL, North Camp, England. It was such’ a a } Must Have Been the Surroundings Y By Pvt, Locts K. Axpexsox, Quartermaster Corps, U.S. A. Here is a conversation that took place between | two of our men recently: Corporal—What are we going to have for dinner? i Loan by Pace J.Haxsox, U.8,8. America Postmaster, N- Private—Some kind of steak I Boot (Rookie lookout): Ship ahead! Cor poral—Hamburger? ti Bridge: How far? Private—No. . Drawn by Pyr, Rarwoxn H. Loraiy, 130th Squadron, Avietion MY Lookout: About a block or block and a half. Cor poral—Porterhouse? iM schanies Trekning Soheal. St: Paul; Mins. + Bridge: What! What! Private—No, I forget, ...O yes, I know! Private Phateeg: Awright, Bill, one morc Lookout: Well, maybe two blocks! Beef—that’s it—beefst shove and we'll have it up. Ny Bridge: Where th’ h— do you think you are? It might have been the surroundings, but any- Private DeTayle: Up! Why, you dumb i On Broadway? way something about it struck us as funny. rookie, I've been trying to get it down! comicbooks.com