Judge, 1923-05-12 · page 7 of 36
Judge — May 12, 1923 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This 1920s college humor page satirizes romantic duplicity and changing social mores. The top cartoon mocks women's increased physical freedom—"Flint" and "Steel" are apparently women whose knees visibly knock together, referencing the scandalous shortening of women's skirts in this era. The joke treats visible female legs as inherently comedic and transgressive. "Et Tu, Brute" is a poem about male romantic betrayal: a man discovers his girlfriend made identical romantic promises to multiple suitors, establishing herself as a serial deceiver. The humor relies on inverting expected gender roles—typically men were satirized as unfaithful; here the woman is the faithless party. The subsidiary jokes reinforce this theme: a student awkwardly tries to seduce a chaperon; a "Benedict" (married man) criticizes his wife's modern, revealing clothing; and "A Bosom Friend" describes another woman who claimed exclusive devotion while clearly flirting elsewhere. The satire targets both the "New Woman" of the 1920s—sexually liberated, physically visible, independent—and male naïveté in believing romantic promises. The overall message mocks modern courtship's dishonesty.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Drawn by Erwin, Cornell * Flint—She’s got a mean pair of knees! Stee]—Yeah—they’re always knocking each other! Et Tu, Brute by Hugh G. Swain, Yate" WHEN you went home with her last night And flattered her with love-lorn rhyme, Did you believe yourself the wight Who first had kissed her lips sublime? Well I beli d that too—one time. Did she not gaze into your eyes And promise ever to be true, And hint by her ecstatic sighs That she alone was made for you? She hinted that to me, the shrew! after you had gone away Did you believe your little plot Had fooled her well in every way And then decide that it had not? didn’t, by a long, long shot! we Stude (at house party) —-See that tree over there? Chaperon—Yes. Stude (to himself) Dammit, she ain’t blind! I. R, Hicks, °23, and D. P. Peter, Emory and Henry College. tt his better Benedict — Well, what about it? Why, the way she dresses nowa Dreentty days she should be PRGPE Wi Ass called an, improper ction. Silty. oN . D. Buchanan, “This freedom. Cornell "23. ts A Bosom Friend by Albert E. Peters, Albion College me to me all fair and lily-white, s pure as.crystal from a virgin mine, right of purchase, you were mine that night, And on my breast you softly rested thine. My arms through yours so gladly did I Drawn by Janice Dunker, Stanford '22. twine; " You pleased me—but my heart went to a Always room for one more flirt : ; You clung to me, but she had lips like Prof.—What college in America has pro- The man who invented the <ophone is wine. duced the most Presidents? dead, but we didn’t hear of anyone going Still, thanks to thee, my freshly-laun- Fearless Freshman—The electoral colene: to his funeral. . — dered shirt! James S. Burleson, Oklahoma U. Les Conklin, Columbia '23. comicbooks.com