Judge, 1923-05-19 · page 5 of 36
Judge — May 19, 1923 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains a satirical article titled "Close the Pore as You Go Out" by Samuel G. Blythe, illustrated by Gilbert Wilkinson. The cartoon depicts two men outdoors discussing shower techniques. The satire targets health fads and pseudo-scientific wellness advice popular in the early 20th century. Oscar, described as a poet and "trolley car conductor," has become obsessed with a elaborate cold-water shower regimen he believes promotes health. His friend Sam warns him the practice is excessive and potentially dangerous, noting that Oscar's obsession with "closing pores" and alternating water temperatures lacks real medical basis. The humor derives from mocking the era's tendency toward health pseudoscience and the comical extremes people adopted, presented as earnest but ultimately foolish self-care rituals. The illustration emphasizes the incongruity of Oscar's dedication to this peculiar practice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Drawn by GtLpertT WILKINSON. Business Manager—Now see here, Sam, if you’re agreeable to go halves in any little enterprise, good; otherwise one of us ‘Il have another suit of clothes! Close the Pore as You Go Out by Stanley C. Dearstyne Omer and I lately moved into an apartment which is in Greenwich Village but contains a shower bath. Oscar, who is a poet in his spare time, though otherwise a trolley car conductor, has for shower every morning. xcuse is that it is very healthful, one feel immense, etc, Recently he induced me to try it. lly enjoyed myself, staying under the hot water gave out, when I mbered from the tub. Oscar, i ¢ later, was shocked ad used only hot water. must finish n till hastily « CTOSS-eX: to learn that I “My dear fellow, you up with the cold .” he protested, “or it won't do you a bit of good; on the contrary, you'll catch a cold which may develop into pneumonia, and then where'll you be?” So the next morning I used the cold water last. In fact, I didn’t use the hot water at all, but merely turned on the cold and jumped in and out once doing the shower in 514 seconds. Oscar was disgusted when I told him about it. “Erving,” he said, “listen: when you first go in the shower, the water must be tepid, so that if you have a weak heart there'll be no shock to result fatally. Gradually you turn it to warm, then hot; this opens the pores and washes the dirt away. Next you slowly turn it back to warm, then medium, then cool, then cooler, and finally downright ice- cold. You remain under the ice-cold for three minutes, or longer if you wish, the cold water closing your pores again.” I followed Oscar's directions up to one-and-a-half minutes of the ice-cold water, after which I fell out of the tub with my pores still half open and dashed off (having thawed out and dressed) to the nearest heart specialist. If he told me my heart was weak, I'd have a good excuse for discontinuing my showers. “Yours is one of the strongest hearts that ever entered this office,” declared the specialist. “But your friend’s meth- od of shower-bathing is all wrong. The 3 only truly health-provoking way is to first tun the water on as hot as possible; then after thirty seconds switch it quickly to the coldest there is in the house. Thirty seconds later, back to hot; then to cold again: this should be repeated seventeen times. After that you are sure to feel wide-awake, and the abrupt changes from red-hot. to ice-cold have a special effect upon the nerves.” T tried this, too, and am now following my own pre-shower system of taking one bath (warm water and sponge) every six months. I never felt better in my life and have already gained five pounds, rd Hay, frien’, help me fin’ my t “Why, man, it’s on your head. “On my _ he Zasso? Well, then, don’t bother. Tl find it myshelf. tae “Jack says that his love for me will never die. “That ought to make it easy—or at least more pleasant—for him when he has to pay you alimony later on.” comicbooks.com