Judge, 1920-05-22 · page 8 of 36
Judge — May 22, 1920 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis: "Barbers" in Judge Magazine This page contains a satirical essay by Omar Shapfer mocking barbers as talkative, opportunistic professionals who exploit customers while providing minimal actual skill. **The Main Article's Satire:** Shapfer characterizes barbers as garrulous hustlers who launch endless monologues, upsell unnecessary services (massages, hair treatments), and charge exorbitant prices. The reference to Delilah cutting Samson's hair suggests barbers have historically held power over their clients. The piece ridicules barber college graduates as mass-produced, mediocre practitioners requiring only "pretty bottles" and mirrors to start businesses. **The Two Cartoons:** 1. **Top illustration** (by J.K. Baas): Shows a barber with a customer, illustrating the essay's themes. 2. **Bottom illustration** (by John Conselman): Depicts children with a kite, captioned about making "bullsheeweeks outa us"—likely satirizing servants/employees who waste time or resources, paralleling the barber theme of being exploited by unreliable service providers. **Context:** This reflects early 20th-century class anxieties about service workers and consumer culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Barbers By Cur Suarer ARBERS constitute a pro- B lific branch of the inhuman +race who grade up the faces of all men who are willing to take a chance and step out of the safety razor zone. They can launch a one-sided conversation quicker than a flea can loop the loop on the hair of the dog that feeds him. And, once launched, they can discuss any topic from the virtues of Red Dog to the possibilities of selling suspenders to the Hula Maidens of the South Sea Isles. Generally speaking, they select their text from the book of num- bers, and big numbers at that. No man ever talked up, at, for, against, to, at the same time, or with, a barber. Barbers spring from many sources. The Moler Barber College has contributed countless eminent ton- sorial razzboes to the broad fields of lather and Tonique de Flux. Every six weeks a new crop of feather-edge valedictorians step forth to scrape the public’s phiz and pocket. All that a good barber needs to start work Drawn by J. K. Baas house.’ ki with is a few pretty bottles, a pair of mirrors, a copy. ‘Drawn by Joux Coxscuza “Exacky, IrReEN! “You can’t have any more cord for your kite. You've ured up nearly every bit in the _“Aw, don’t be stingy, dad! This is a dandy _kite, and with more string I might be able to communicate with Mars. Tua’s tH’ Sorta Tatnc Wot Makes Butisneweeks Outa Us! of a pink sporting extra and a loose tongue. Incidentally, he carries a line of razors and strops to swop during idle moments. Nothing worries a barber. If he cuts his victim, he simply gets out his caustic pencil and draws a few lines on the face. Barbers mine blackheads. Far be it from a barber to overlook an op- portunity. He offers everything from an Axminster massage to a hair singe, 4 la bonfire. He pa- rades the shampoo bottle and recommends sheep dip to keep the hair from falling out. Saying “No” to a barber is some task. And the man who can prove that he is able to do sg should get into the presidential race at once. Delilah was the first barber. She cut Samson’s hair and the barber has had the upper hand ever since. The Only Solution “T sat up two hours last night with a wet towel around my head, trying to solve my servant problem.” “And I stood up half an hour after dinner with a dish towel in my hand, solving mine.” ”