Judge — April 26, 1919 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "A Short Tale of 2 Short Tails" - Judge Magazine Comic This is a humorous animal comic strip about a dog whose tail has been docked (surgically shortened or removed). The narrative follows the dog's attempts to hide this embarrassment from his owner's artistic friend who supplies materials. The joke turns on Victorian-era social pretension: the dog is so ashamed of his altered appearance that he tries to conceal it, even going to comedic extremes like hiding or making excuses. The friend repeatedly notices the missing tail, and the dog's desperate denials and increasingly absurd explanations form the humor. The satire gently mocks both the vanity of keeping up appearances and the social anxiety of being visibly "imperfect" in front of refined company. The recurring phrase about the "blue flame" and the artist's studio references upper-class artistic circles, suggesting the target audience was educated readers familiar with pretentious social circles. The strip's title emphasizes the duality: two short tales about one short tail.