Judge, 1920-04-17 · page 12 of 36
Judge — April 17, 1920 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis for Modern Readers This page contains three satirical pieces from *Judge* magazine: **"Cosmopolis"** by Charlotte Becker mocks American hotels' international staffing. The poem catalogs employees from Spain, France, Ireland, Greece, Java, Portugal, Africa, Romania, Poland, and Russia—then reveals the punchline: it's "just the usual average American hotel." The satire criticizes how American establishments exotic-ize their workers while remaining fundamentally ordinary, playing on early 20th-century fascination with (and anxiety about) immigrant labor. **"Callers"** by Stuart W. Knight humorously describes unwanted social visitors who monopolize time, scrutinize homes, and overstay their welcome—a relatable complaint about intrusive etiquette callers common in that era. **"Not a Dissembler"** depicts rural character "Gap Johnson" proudly claiming his son has no hypocrisy, then immediately contradicting himself with an anecdote proving the boy is actually dishonest. The joke relies on backwoods dialect humor common to period satire.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
thing quite as readily as theit stomachs absorb anything in the line of refreshments that you may hand out. You think they are never going, in spite of a series of assurances to the contrary. Each time they say they must be going. you urge them to stay, which is their idea of your playing a good joke on yourself. ‘There is no way of proving that callers are going. That overwhe'ming sensation of relief. however, is fairly substantial proof that they have gone Cosmopolis By Cuancorre Becwer “THE Major-domo came from Spain, The Cook was born in France; And that the Boots from Ireland hails Is plain at just a glance The Elevator-boy’s a G The Buttons, Javanese The Waiters waver all the way From n to Portuguese The Chambemiaids are Mrican Rumanian and Pole; Vhe Porter’s name is Russian, but He cannot use it whole And where is this amazing plce? Can't anybody tell It’s just the usual averse N a Diss bler Wokkine Overtinte oy i ent “Well, one shore thing about my least boy, Bearcat, he hain’t. no hypocrite!” pridefully stid Gap Johnson, of Callers Rumpus Ridge. Ark. “Tuther day when 1 took him to town we met the Hon. John N. Swillman on the street. After the statesman had mentioned in gulps how gul-lad he was to sev CALLERS are people who festoon your furniture with them: me, and all this and that, he patted Beareat on the head and 4 (talk about the weather. the neighbors and other told him he'd be president some day the little cuss just unreliable things. They call upon you to show off their clothes twisted his neck and bit the hand that patted: him.” By Serovar We Kasia selves d and their fund of gossip, both of which were acquired under the Wie fs most painstaking attention to 4- b / details. They also call upon you because they have nothing else to do and are so disgruntled about it that they want te make you share their discon fiture They always come when you have several impor- Lint matters to attend to and not feel like making small talk Vheir eyes as well as their mouths open, and they acquire an in timate knowledge of the way your home ought to look if it were properly taken care of Vhey can tell whether the re have been dusted recently; they di er that ms ne of the chairs f+ jf LZ, phiced to conceal a slightly YW gy 0 ay worn spot on the rug; they see WLM AE er 0 the dent in the wall made by Deen by Row Wesroven that poorly aimed vase; in short The Persistent Garpener Wao ‘Trrep to Pick x Stoxe Oct or His their eager eves devour every- Back Yarp witn His Fixcers comicbooks.com