Judge, 1919-02-15 · page 10 of 32
Judge — February 15, 1919 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of "All Mixed Up" by Robert Robertson This satirical story mocks the incompetence and casual dishonesty of women serving as club treasurers in the early 20th century. Mrs. Peters, treasurer of the "Onward and Upward Club," confesses to her husband a series of accounting disasters: she's recorded wrong amounts, lost receipts, double-paid bills, and generally fabricated her books rather than admit errors or recalculate figures. The satire targets two things: first, the assumption that women lacked mathematical ability and business acumen; second, the petty vanity that motivated her acceptance of the treasurer role—she took the job primarily to spite a rival (Sue Benson) rather than serve the organization. The cartoon illustrations (by Donald McKee and J.K. Barrows) show domestic scenes. The piece is fundamentally about how social clubs operated among middle-class women and the casual attitudes toward financial responsibility that sometimes prevailed.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
rey pomal each other, dear, will and we?” Violet Brown, her heart fluttering like a bird, stam- mered: “N-no. That was three days ago. \ She had thought of him every minute since. She had want- r 6S ed to come to him every min- ute since—he couldn't come to her because he had forgot- — Druve by J.K. Baraxs ten to ask her address. But she had waited until she can’t imagine wha could get her friend, who — deni taksn away knew him, too, to come with her. After all, what were three days, when their souls were one for eternity The elevator stopped—and her heart almost stopped too. He opened the studio door himself and they stepped in. She felt, for a moment, when she first looked up at him, that she was going to faint—or fly—or do both. Things grew a little misty around her. She heard him saying to her companion: Hello, Janette—you haven't been over for a long would becc become of you Then he turned toward h “And who is this pretty little girl with you?” he asked, with the affable manner of one ready to make a new acquaintance. All Mixed Up By Rosret Rowertsonx # Y, George, I want you to help me a little in S trying to make out my annual report as treasurer of our Onward and Upward Club,” said little Mrs. Peters to her husband after dinner the other evening. “I never was good at figures, and I am all mixed up over this report. I never would have allowe¢ them to elect me treasurer, only that disagreeable Sue Benson wanted it and I dis- like her, so I took it just to spiteher. I have heard that she has said that she'd bet I couldn’t keep the books straight, and I want you to help me make out this report to prove to her that I can, the cat! Now the last treasurer turnedover cighty- nine cents to me and then came to me and said she had gone over her figures again and she found she had given me cighteea cents too much, and [had to give that much back to her. We couldn’t make change so I gave her twenty cents, but I put it down eighteen in my book, for that was what I really owed her. Thgn a member Drown by Doxauo McKee Cupid—Never mind why. You're such a delicate creature, Arab jh, I'd stay right here. The question is, what would who owed two dollars for dues paid me adollar and sixty-fiv cents of it, because that was all she had with her and she hasn’t paid me the other thirty-five cents yet, but I marked it paid on the book because she has a receipt for the full amount and can say that she has paid it all if she takes a notion to. Then I bought some station- that I really ery and two or three of the I were sud- ladies were with me at the time and we were talking and laughing and I forgot how much I paid for it, and when I went back to the store the next week they couldn't remember. I think it was about sixty-five cents, so ft put it down at that. Then several of the members paid me their dues at the last meeting and I lost the ship of paper I put their names and what they paid on, and I can’t for the life of me remember just who paid or how much they paid. I know that two or three didn’t pay in full. Then I paid a bill of a dollar and eighty-five cents that had already been paid by the other treasurer, but when the check came back to me I didn’t want to scratch the entry I had made in my book and spoil the looks of the page, so I just let it stand and made a note that I must remember not to count it in when I made my report. And once I gave ayman a check for cighty-six cents too muclw and he gave me back the eighty-nine cents and I spent it for something else, and so I didn’t know just how to put that down in the book, and it isn’t down at all, and I want you to tell me what to do about it. Two of the members declare that they have paid their dues, but I have no record of it, but I had to mark them paid, and I don’t know how to figure in the money I feel sure they didn’t pay me. After one meeting I dropped my purse in the street car, and I don’t know if I got all the money back or not, and I don’t know for sure how much was in the purse when I dropped it or how much of it was mine and how much belonged to the club. Then I think I gave some one sixty cents too much change one day and I dropped fifty cents on the floor of the hall at one meet- ing and never was able tofind it, and the president of the club said for me to charge it to ‘profit and loss,’ and I don’t know what she meant, for it was all loss and so I didn’t put it down at all. I’m awfully mixed up and I want you to straighten it al! out for me so that I can let Sue Benson know that I can keep books as well as * she could have kept them.” That's my business! comicbooks.com