Judge — December 13, 1919 — page 34: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The Ideal Christmas Gift ~“Really, Mrs. Brown, I find it awful hard to decide on my Christmas presents; you know we were economizing so much during the war that we didn’t make the usual gifts, and Mr. Jones and I thought that this year we could make up by giving them all something extra nice, even if it cost a little more than we really could afford, But it is so hard to think of something appropriate for each one. I wish you would help me out a little.” Mrs. Brown:—“Why, that’s easy, my dear! Why not follow our scheme? We make up our Christmas list every December, and when the advertisement comes out in JUDGE, we cut off the little corner and paste iton our li JUDGE pleases them all so much, our gift is spread out over the whole r, and really it is so easy to do and so cheap after all, that I sometimes wonder how we ever thought of it. And such a nice Christmas card is sent to them all, too.” we are entering one years subscription to JUDGE to be sent you, addre; LESLIEJUDGE CO - 828Youk © Judge Christmas Card, you can not agine what a won- derfully artistic thing it really is, with its carefully blended colors of red, black and green. It is a gift in itself. ‘ If we receive your order in time, we will include in the year’s subscription for 1920, the issues of December 20 and December , With their beautiful Christmas covers. JUDGE 225 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK CITY 225 Fifth Aves New York City Please send JUDGE with Card to names attached for which I remit to you herewith $5.00 a year for each subscription, Name. JUDGE Petey and the Irritable Smith Concluded from page such a man, And the curious thing is tha physically, he is very much more like the aver- age American than Petey, and on the whole mor like him than the irritable Smith, Probably v would all like to look as he does; but noboc loves him as we love Petey; nobody recogniz the neighbor we all sce in Smith. He is th romantic ideal of the American body. Brai soul, and personality he utterly lacks. And is Petey the American soul humorous! consoling itself for ideals that escape it by real ties always within reach? And is Smith th American mind crossly g relaxation wit a kind of animal energy cartoonists see to say so. But then we become visible to th cartoonist only when we weaken. What does the strong and serious American mind think of itself? The art of the democracy will not permit to discover. Democracy always hits below tl belt. It prefers the average man; and the aver age man is more interesting when he is humor ous than when he is serious; and when he romantic means nothing at all. G. Wells has been democratizing Heaven, His God is a being who struggles like man and needs his support A little more democ: and he would becom humorous, And the democratic American, fol lowing the same tendency, prefers to see himself in humorous aspects, likes his ridiculous phase likes to laugh his disillusions and his crud ties and weaknesses. When his self-respect is threatened in the process, he can always tur to the heroic youth in the advertisements who with a gesture worthy of Mars is hooking on a new brand of garter. If he can think that he looks like that hero, he is more than willing fcel like Petey. It is a religion of extremes. This is how the average American likes + think of himself. But just what he thinks of himself not even the war has made him sa The irritable Smith has never had time to con sider his character apart from the thing he hay pens to want in a hurry, Petey is too enraptured with the possibilities and the misadventures of living to speculate, although if you could take that cigar away from him and make him talk you might get some curious wisdom. As for the gartered hero, has nothing to think wit Democracy, like Mohammedanism, forbids t! representation of the human figure, except in grotesques or in decorations. The cartoonist and the illustrators are the only artists allowed us Let us be thankful that they reveal so much The Shears y Mixxa Trvinc The shutters bang about, And dozing in an casy-chair Upon the mantel And drowsily my Upon its slender hands. 3chold! They are the famous shears The Fates so long have plied To terminate the life of man And all his pomp and pride. The blades with slow precision mect At twelve and cut the thread Of Time, and all the bells announce Another year is dead.