Judge — April 10, 1920 — page 25: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *Judge* satirizes a theatrical character named "Shavings," described as "an absurd old winter" who is "chronic mislayer of things" and "midday about everything but the scenery and 'lines' in the play." The humor centers on Shavings's absent-minded personality—he loses keys, misplaces money, but never forgets his lines. The illustration shows what appears to be a scene from a play, with a man in formal attire (vest, bow tie, glasses) and a woman leaning in close. The caption's pun on "kissable" suggests the joke involves Shavings's romantic or comic misadventures on stage despite his scatterbrained nature. The satire mocks a particular theatrical type: the bumbling character actor whose competence on stage contradicts his chaos offstage—a common comic archetype in early 20th-century American theater.