Judge, 1921-04-30 · page 19 of 32
Judge — April 30, 1921 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple brief satirical jokes about American politics and domestic life, circa early 20th century. **Key satirical targets:** - **"Free as a Bird"**: Mocks husbands who claim voting independence while wives actually control their political choices through persistent "elucidation"—satirizing both gender dynamics and voter autonomy. - **"The Barometer"**: Congress's predictability is so reliable it serves as a weather indicator for newspaper joke writers. - **"One of the Rules"**: Exposes political hypocrisy—successful politicians must *appear* concerned about ordinary people's troubles while never actually demonstrating genuine worry. - **"The Kaiser Licks His Chops"**: References WWI-era German militarism; the Kaiser jokes about "head-chopping practice" from German war reports, depicting Germany's aggression darkly. - **"Pleasing the Ghost"**: Critiques voting fraud—politicians accepting votes for deceased candidates to honor "old friendships." These jokes reflect Progressive Era skepticism toward political institutions, gender roles, and contemporary war anxiety.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Free as a Bird—* Does your wile in fluence your vote?” “Not at all,” replied Mr. Meckton bas | ictta wants me to vote according to my own ideas; but it is remarkable how thoroughly my views always coin- cide with hers after she has taken the trouble to express them and to assure me that she is perfectly willing to go on elucidating until I fully comprehend.”"— Washington Star The Barometer—“Of course, you know Congress is in session.” “Yes, you can always tell that by the newspaper jokes.” —Louisville Courier- One of the Rules—“What is the secret of a successful political career?” “For one thing,” said the practical politician, with a crafty smil you've got to convince the plain people that you lie awake at night worrying about their troubles, but never make the mistake of doing it.”—Birmingham Age- Herald. Lots of *Em—* Yes, he’s running for office again. On what platform?” “The lecture platform.” Journal. Kansas City The Kaiser Licks His Chops Visitor—You DON'T SAW TREES ANY MORE? His Hochness—No. SINCE THE LATEST RE PORTS FROM THE VATERLAND, I AM GETTING IN SOME HEAD-CHOPPING PRACTICE.—Kor- n (Christiania) A Message of Great Joy MAN, Passing Always Busy—" Hey, Congressm “Well?” “What do you do when you're not building fences?” “Oh, 1 dodge issues.” — Courier-Journal. Paw Knows Everything— IW illic Paw, can you name six noted legislative bodies? Paw—Well, there’s the American Congress, and the British Parliament, and the French Chamber of Deputies, and the German Reichstag, and the Japanese Dict, my son, Willie—But that’s only five, and the teacher wants us to name six. Paw—Well, there’s the—er—er—the Hungarian Goulash. Now. don’t bother me. Can't you sce I’m reading? Brooklyn Eagle. Pleasing the Ghost—"You admit then, that you voted for a man who had been dead for ten years?” “Yes,” said the practical politician. “but he was an old friend of mine, and I knew that we were carrying out his wishes.” —Birmingham Age- Herald. Horrid Thing!—Shke—I never ex- pected to work like this when I married you. He—You didn’t, ch? Well, I figured that you had become habituated to it You know you worked pretty hard to get me.—Boston Transcript. A Terrible Man—* My husband gets into some terrible tantrums. Today the graphophone offended him.” “What then?” “He broke all records.”—Lou Courier-Journal Picked Peck—II ife—I called on Mrs. Peck this afternoon. She is certainly a tidy housekeeper Hub—AMtogether too tidy, [| should say. Poor Peck tells me he can’t even drop a remark but that she picks it up immediately.—Boston Transcript. Sa ea — aa ae comicbooks.com