Judge, 1919-03-29 · page 23 of 32
Judge — March 29, 1919 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents theatrical humor and character sketches from several Broadway productions of the era. The jokes are drawn from musicals, particularly "Somebody's Sweetheart" and "The Melting of Molly." The satire here is **meta-theatrical**: Judge mocks both the plays themselves and theater audiences. The central joke notes that during "girl-infested musical shows," audiences get distracted by the female performers rather than listening to actual dialogue—suggesting the comedic lines are forgettable compared to visual spectacle. The individual gags are puns and one-liners typical of vaudeville-style humor (Ben Hud's joke about being taller in the morning, the Pullman car exchange). William Kent's "camouflaged shoes" notation appears to be an inside joke about his physical appearance or performance style. The page functions as advertisement-cum-review for these theatrical productions, using humor to promote shows to Judge's readership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
From “Somesopy’s SweeTHEART” Ben Hun (John Dunsmure)—Would you believe it, girls, when I was a boy I was taller in the morning than I was at night? Bessir. and Heren—Is it possible? “Yes, my mother used to let me out in the morning and take me in at night.” From “Tue Metrt- inc oF Motty” From “A Littte Journey” ‘~ The lines here are apparently awfully funny. But just when we ought to have been listening for them, our attention was attracted Pullman car pleasantries: “I never had any difficulty get- by—well, you have been at those ting through this aisle before.” girl-infested musical shows yourself. Note the camouflaged shoes! William Kent, of “Somebody’s Sweet- heart,” making wood- notes wild—quite wild. Well, I can’t say that I did cither.” comicbooks.com