Judge, 1923-09-01 · page 11 of 36
Judge — September 1, 1923 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page **Main Cartoon (top):** A fashionably dressed woman at the beach pulls a reluctant, scantily-clad man into the ocean. The caption satirizes superficial beach conversation—she complains the ocean is "overrated," he responds it's "a wonderful excuse." The joke suggests the ocean serves merely as a pretext for flirtation and display rather than genuine enjoyment. **Article: "Some Inescapable Facts"** by Frederic C. Nelson satirizes the traveling public during what appears to be labor unrest or strikes (referenced in opening). Nelson catalogs types of annoying train passengers—the show-off, the bores, the demanding woman who underpays porters, the Prohibition-era drinker. The piece mocks society's exaggerated deference to travelers while these passengers themselves are often insufferable and inconsiderate. The final anecdote about "Old Bill Higgs" and his lost ten-dollar bill appears to mock false claims of widespread honesty. The satire targets both the entitled traveling public and society's fawning service toward them.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Don’t you think the ocean's terribly overrated, Mae?” “Oh, I don’t know! Some Inescapable Facts by Frederic C. Nelson Ix TIME of strike and stress one hea nothing but solicitude for the wel of the traveling public. The tra public must not be inconvenienced. The traveling public must have what it wants when it wants it. Though the in- stitutions of society totter on their foundations, the final effort of the terror- stricken refugees must be for the com- fort and good nature of the traveling public, Why all these genuflections and gestures of abasement before the traveling public? Who is the traveling public and what has it done to deserve all the fuss? Here is the roll of the traveling public: The young man who needs no introdue- tion—to any good-looking girl on the train. The couple from Oklahoma who stick to their chairs on the observation car all day and won't even knock off for lunch. The man in the dining-car who shows that he knows what's what by sending his eggs back to the kitchen th The oily individual who w your ear something about, for a while on a little te The experienced tra’ head with times. ers in “sitting in -cent poker.” who fills your misinformation and_ false It's a wonderful excuse.” statistics and looks at the scenery only to be reminded of somewhere else. The man who tells the story about the fellow from San Francisco and the fellow from Los Angeles. The chronic man from home who shouts, “What's this neck of the woods?” to the natives of Oskalusa who have Rusty ess “What time ya got, mister?” “Bout twelve-thirty.” Little Buddy—See, smarty! we gotta run to git “leven!” Now home before come down to the station Limited take on water. The girl who has a “line” “The trouble with Yale men is— and, “of course, Dad put a stop to that!” The woman who grinds the face of the porter for three days and gives him fifteen cents at her getti fT place, The woman who disciplines her c| by saying, “If you're not a good gi mother’s going to put you in the car and leave you there all night! The little girl, as above, who doesn't believe a word of it. to see the involving, aggage The man in the smoking compartment who never took a drink before Prohibition and hasn't missed one since. Inconvenience the traveling publi Why not? The traveling public is lucky it hasn't been boiled in oil. sos Hosest people? Why there are a number of honest people in this old world after all,” said Old Bill, Higgs. “One day last week I took a chance— spent exactly thirty-two cents to put an ad in the paper, saying I lost a ten dollar bill. The very next) day five different people came in here and handed me a ten dollar bill, and to show that honesty — should rewarded, I gave cach and every one of them a dollar reward.” be comicbooks.com