Judge, 1920-07-17 · page 25 of 36
Judge — July 17, 1920 — page 25: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes the pretensions of Broadway chorus girls circa early 20th century. The text mocks how modern chorus girls affect an exaggerated modesty—wanting to appear like "shrinking violets" while actually performing in revealing costumes. The satire targets their calculated coyness and their attempts to seem refined ("comme il faut") despite working in entertainment considered risqué at the time. The accompanying photographs showcase Sally Long and Rosie Quinn, identified as "two of the best-known chorus-girls on Broadway." The satirical point appears to be that these women's carefully constructed images of demure respectability contradict their actual public personas as performers. The ornate art nouveau frame around the large photograph emphasizes the theatrical presentation being mocked—the gap between performers' public personas and their actual professional roles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
chorus-girl wants nothing so much as to be mistaken for a shrinking viol She sn scaly a a cilfon fon camisole in the suds of a steam eam-laundry. Tobeaty i her constant stu tion; coy without visible effort. is demure provocat mauvaise honte i equaled only by by her comme il fau t bearing, wl ted into , means that she’s a peach of a bluffer. But all this has nothing to do with Say Long (large pane! and Rosie Quinn (insert) who are two of the best-known chorus- girls on