Judge, 1921-02-05 · page 7 of 32
Judge — February 5, 1921 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis for Modern Readers This 1920s-era satirical piece critiques the experience of returning merchandise to department stores—specifically the bureaucratic frustration and dismissive treatment male customers received. **The Setup:** A husband attempts to return defective curtains to a department store, expecting a straightforward transaction. **The Satire:** The story mocks how department store employees—portrayed as preoccupied, gossipy, and indifferent—create obstacles. Staff ignore him to chat about dates, redirect him between departments, and ultimately treat him with suspicion, implying he's dishonest rather than accepting his legitimate complaint. **Social Context:** This reflects early 20th-century retail dynamics where department stores were becoming major institutions, and the friction between customers and staff hierarchies. The "hungry maw" title suggests customers were consumed by bureaucratic indifference. **The Joke:** The powerless male protagonist is trapped in a system designed to wear him down until he abandons his complaint—the opposite of the composed, dignified approach he'd planned. The cartoon at top reinforces this: a wife warns her husband to drive carefully, but he worries *he'll* cause damage—inverting who's actually the cautious one.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
a | en PN an ee aL Drason by WOK. Seamnerr sp AL Husband (whose wife has driven him to the station) —Fok GoovNess’ SaAKh, DRIVE CARBFULLY ON THE Way Home, Maky. T worny ALL THR TIMP FOR PEAK YOU'LL RUN INTO SOMETHING AND SMASH THR CAR. A Mere Man in the Hungry Maw of a Department Store By Hower Croy AYBELLE complained so much about returning M things that I told her it wasn’t anything, anything at all—if you went about it in a composed, dignified way that showed you were right and could not be turned from your course. Then we got some curtains that were not what they should be, and Maybelle was ill so 1 took them back . . . But now [ know better. [ would rather slave a) that’s what L called it in speaking to Maybelle—at the office. When I arrived the girl at the counter was busy with her hair. When she felt that she had done all that was needed to her hair, she began on her nails. Lapproached her timidly. Lhave a pair of curtains —~ “Second aisle over,” she said without looking up. 1 walked over and started to speak to the girl, but suddenly the girl found something that she must say to another girl, that couldn't keep another minute. She had just met a young man named Jack, who could dance divinely. She had known him only two evenings, but he was different from other men. L approached her on the matter of the curtains.“ I—I have a pair of curtains that I have brought back to have ex ——" bas your purchase slip? Less see it. All the gitls were simply wild about bim, but none of them had a show— not a show.” So L carried the curtains home and the next day brought them back with the purchase slip, “T have the purchase slip now," [ stid meekly “You'll have to get your slip O.K."d by the aisle manager. 1 saw a perfectly darling movie last night. It was just grand and especially where she stabbed him on the tiger rug.” At last I sighted an aisle manager and made for him, but just as [ reached him he struck up an animated conversation with a counter girl, while I ited. When his visit was over, L held out the purchase slip for him to sign. He looked at me suspiciously then walked over and spoke in a low tone to another aisle manager. The two studied the slip, then turned their eyes on me. Yes, [ was just the type of man to doa thing like that. Then the floor man slipped! back and said something in an undertone to the sales girl.” Edg ing over she whispered something into another girl’s ear. The other girl gave me ift, astonished glance, unable to believe that it was true. Then they held the curtains up, examining them critically. They would not give up—L must have used comicbooks.com