Judge — December 22, 1923 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine, December 22, 1923 This is a humorous Christmas-themed illustration playing on the famous poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas." The caption reads: "'Twas the night before Christmas"—and there was a mouse." The illustration shows a woman in a nightgown discovering a mouse near the fireplace on Christmas Eve. The joke appears to be a dark comedic twist on the beloved holiday poem—instead of Santa Claus arriving with presents, the woman encounters a mouse, which would have been an unwelcome pest in 1920s homes. The humor relies on subverting reader expectations of the sentimental Christmas narrative with an absurd, slightly grotesque domestic moment. This represents typical Judge magazine satire: genteel, upper-class humor mocking domestic life through exaggeration and unexpected juxtapositions.