Judge, 1923-06-30 · page 17 of 37
Judge — June 30, 1923 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple cartoon vignettes satirizing 1920s American culture and social types. The main illustration shows a woman ("Mathilda") in fashionable attire being criticized for adopting "terrible habits"—likely referring to the "flapper" lifestyle (short skirts, cosmetics, smoking, drinking) that conservative society disapproved of. The dialogue snippets mock various social pretensions: an amateur farmer, a popular song writer aspiring to compose grand opera (viewed as pretentious), and men discussing "flappers" as wives. There's also wordplay about "jazz" and "canned fish stories" (exaggerated tales). The final exchanges are simple jokes: one about a bird swallowing something, another about an organist whose act depended on a performing monkey. Overall, the page satirizes 1920s social anxieties—class ambitions, changing gender roles with the "new woman," and middlebrow cultural aspirations—through gentle ridicule typical of Judge magazine's approach to American society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Mathilda ought to get a new tailor. She’s getting into terrible habits lately.” Crabshaw—As you've tried amateur Reporter—And I suppose your ultimate Johnson—T'll bet Walton doesn’t tell farming, why don’t you write an article aim is to compose grand opera? that awful fish story of his again. I on raising vegetab! Popular Song Writer—Grand opera! told him we'd cut him if he did. Suburbs—I think I could get up a Why, man, that’s what you have to start Jackson—I see. So it has now become better one about weeds. in on to get to jazz. a canned fish story! tat tt tot “Do you think flappers make good ‘Say, Bud; did ye see that swallow?” “What is your occupation?” ives?” > wh allow? “T used to be an organist. can’t say about that, but they're hat bire “And why did you give it up?” certainly making some vigilant one: “No; what did it swallow?” “The monkey died.” 15 comicbooks.com