Judge, 1923-05-19 · page 4 of 36
Judge — May 19, 1923 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page from *Judge* magazine contains a poem titled "Disillusion" by Gardner Rea, which satirizes romantic disappointment through contrasting idealized love with harsh reality. The main cartoon depicts three men examining something on a beach or shoreline, with the caption "Now wot t'ell's he lookin' at? I don't see nothin'!" The working-class dialect and body language suggest they're trying to locate something valuable or significant but finding nothing—likely social commentary on unfulfilled promises or empty expectations. The brief text snippets mock domestic life and social pretense: a wife's complaint about her husband's smoking, a teacher's dark humor about family death, and comments on new taxicabs and women's voting rights. The overall theme appears to be satirizing various disappointments in modern life—romantic, domestic, and civic.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WITH WHICH IS COMBINED LESLIE'S WEEKLY “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” Disillusion by Gardner Rea Yorn love, unlike the passing breeze, Or cloud, Would cleave to me—so, on your knees, You vowe And my glad heart, at every wheeze, Laughed loud! You'd stay by me through weal and woe, You ; (Ah, laughing heart, thus years ago Betrayed!) The final laugh’s on me; for, lo! You've stayed! “Now wot t’ell’s he lookin’ at? Mrs. Barr—If you loved me you'd give up smoking. Mr. Barr—It may be a coincidence, but the wife of every smoker I know has a beautiful complexion. Franklin doesn’t smoke and just look at his wife. Wherewith the subject was dropped. ree Teacher—Willie, has there been a death © mother don't have to make me any more pen wipers.” ),000 fire, “When one speaks of jamage that the the amount refers to the fire did.” “Inde Then I have a $1,000,000 youngster!” ery Red-and-white checkered taxicabs are now appearing on the New York streets. This is a very practical color scheme, making the spatterings of pedestrians’ blood almost invisible. rad The women have had the vote quite a while now, but the country seems to be as bad off as ever. I don’t see nothin’!” comicbooks.com