Judge, 1918-11-30 · page 5 of 32
Judge — November 30, 1918 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "Dialogues of a Blithesome Boob—II" This is a humorous dialogue by Arthur C. Brooks (illustrated by Wilfred Jones) featuring two characters: "the Man from Over There" (a returning American WWI soldier) and "the Blithesome Boob" (a naive, credulous civilian). The satire mocks the Boob's gullibility about wartime experiences. The soldier recounts an absurd aerial combat story—being shot down, rescued by searchlight, and knocked out an enemy pilot with a monkey wrench—to which the Boob responds with believing enthusiasm and inadequate follow-up questions. The joke targets post-war America's tendency to accept exaggerated soldier tales uncritically. The "Boob" represents civilians disconnected from actual combat reality, easily impressed by implausible heroics.
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vy, | Hear You've Bees Fuyinc 1x France. How Was It Over Tuere, Wat? Dialogues of a Blithesome Boob.—II. This time he invites rebuke and gets it in plenty By Arruur C. Broo Illustration by Witeren Jones HE Man from Over There cased himself gently into a pillowed armchair, leaned his cane nearby and stretched out his aching “Ah-h-h,” he sighed noisily. ‘Now for a good rest.” o»ment the Blithesome Boob dashed into the room, bearing a wide smile of welcome. ** Ah-ha, old toppo, how goes it, eh?” he shouted. “The homing pigeon re- turned, what? The prodigal swallow! Say, I hear you've been flying in France. How was it over there, what?" “One at a time, please,” said the Man from Over There, tolerantly. “Let’s take turns. They told me you were drowned in a boating accident.” “Not me!” proclaimed the Blithesome Boob. “You can’t kill me . commented the Man from Over There, ‘so I've begun to think.” “But, say, listen,” the Blithesome Boob insisted. *‘How was it over in France, anyway?” “All fussed up—anyway and everyway,” said the “Yes, I know,” went on the Blithesome Boob. “But, really, I’m frightfully interested. It must have been glorious to fight! “You should have tried it,” advised the Man from Over There. “There was lots of room in the Army. And you'd never got hurt. “But tell me of some of your encounters,” begged the Blithesome Boob. ‘How did you injure your leg?” “Well, I don’t know as I will,” doubted the Man from Over Ther “Perhaps you won't believe it. Several haven't. “Still,” he added as an afterthought, “of course they were normal.” “O, pshaw,” exploded the Blithesome Boob, not noticing the jab. “I'd believe anything nowadays!” “Yes, I guess you would, at that!” said the Man There, with hidden meaning. * he continued, “it occurred just north of Cootie-en-votre-Chapeau. I hadn't had a good fight for a long time. You see, it was hard to get Fritz to come out and fight. On this day I enticed a Heinic to come up and mix it with me. You follow closely, don’t you?” he inquire “O, yes. Perfectly,” assured the Blithesome Boob The Man from Over There continued. ‘Well, we had it hot and heavy for half an hour, swooping and zooming all over and back again, and firing continu- ously. Once we came within inches of crashing into each other, and just then a tracer bullet from his gun set fire to the fuselage of my machine. I jumped clear and landed on one of his wings, and crawled over to him. Well, it was me or him for the next ten minutes. Finally | managed to knock him out with a monkey wrench and sit on his head. But a funny predicament cropped up then,” the Man from Over There reflected, smiling. “How was that?” invited the Blithesome Boob. “You see,” explained the Man from Over There, “one of my bullets had impaired his steering appara- tus, and to save me I couldn’t bring the blame thing to earth. But I managed to lock the controls and let the plane have her head. We went round and round for hours; till darkness came, in fact.” “And how in the world did you get to earth?” asked the Blithesome Boob. earchlight picked us up—and threw us a His voice trailed away into nothingness. comicbooks.com