Judge, 1919-11-22 · page 17 of 36
Judge — November 22, 1919 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon depicts a man confessing to an elderly woman about his compulsive addiction to watching pianos and safes being hoisted up building facades. The joke plays on the absurdity of this specific obsession: the man has lost multiple jobs because he cannot resist stopping to watch whenever construction workers raise these items to upper floors of the tall apartment buildings then becoming common in America. The satire appears to mock both the man's pathological behavior and the broader cultural anxiety about modern urban development and the dangers of industrial work. By treating this ridiculous fixation with the serious language of moral weakness and disease, Hamilton creates dark humor about addiction and self-deception. The man's grandiose claim that he'll warn others suggests how addicts rationalize their compulsions. The accompanying "Peter, Peter, garlic eater" rhyme offers lighter comic relief on the same page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Drawn by FRANK GoowIn Habit By Harry Hamitton about your mis- the kind old ed The safe and piano habit, T lost stopping to watch during fe. I'd forget to go back to work—the thing hold on me. There was one time when it seemed T might break off and get a new grip on myself, but it was always a case of just one more safe or piano. | Just one more wouldn't hurt me, T thou and then I'd quit for good and Twas lacking in moral strength, ma'am. I tried to. taper off, but it was no use Whenever T saw a safe or piano suspended in midair, T had to stop and watch it. Then, to make matters worse, they began to build these here tall buildings and apartments. The dis- one of ‘em, ma'am. three good jobs as a young man by noon-hour the lowerir Other Goose Rhymes By Jack Arnon Peter, Peter, garlic eater, Had a wife and couldn't keep her, But she lost her sense of smell And now he keeps her very well 7 tance from the sidewalk to the top floor was much, much greater than formerly. It took longer to haul! a piano up or to let it down. T became hopelessly lost.” “Well! Who ever heard of such a habit!” said the kindly old lady looking at him curiously. “Perhaps what you are telling me is true—strange it is. But why don't you get a job somewhere, and get your mind settl on it?” “[ have a purpose, ma'am—a purpose hased upon another impulse that I cannot resis “What purpose?” As I see bright and i errands and watch the p' cent young men pause on their » or safe mover at his work, I want to warn them of the danger which threatens them. Then the old crav comes back, and I can think of nothing but the hoisting It’s a disease with me, ma’am, and what's worse, it’s a dise stening its tentacles upon thousands of victims annually, I di ask for alms. If I can only keep sonl and body together, I can devote what's left of my ill-spent life to steering others away from the f: which—O. thank you, lady! There ain't many as is so liberal.” 11-22-19