Judge, 1919-12-13 · page 12 of 36
Judge — December 13, 1919 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Flight Before Christmas" This is a humorous parody of "The Night Before Christmas" (Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem). The comic follows a burglar or thief breaking into a home on Christmas Eve, rather than Santa Claus. The six-panel sequence shows: the thief entering a quiet house, discovering it's empty, encountering what appears to be a rat, using a spotlight to investigate, and ultimately fleeing when caught or discovered, shouting "Good Night!" The joke plays on the poem's opening lines ("'Twas the night before Christmas, / Not a creature was stirring...") by substituting a criminal for Santa—suggesting homes are vulnerable on Christmas Eve, or satirizing the contrast between Christmas ideals and criminal reality. The "bare" room and "pinned hole" suggest economic hardship, possibly commenting on 1920s-era poverty during the holiday season.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Flight Before Christmas >TWwar the night before Chriclmac, Jrot a creature wae oftirring. And all through the houere , Not ever a moucre. l= ought dim, the rat, thie iv Lough, The hie old trusty opot-light . The room iv sure bare, Showed a nole pifined thére. he the window, Agr the light whone on the bed, Ten made for n fiir ser’ met a eight, fxn’ hollered, “ good Night! Drawn by Rves Westover