Judge, 1923-12-22 · page 8 of 36
Judge — December 22, 1923 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Ballade of the Banter" - A 1920s Diet Satire This page satirizes the emerging obsession with dieting and calorie-counting among American women in the 1920s. The poem mocks a woman who has abandoned her former love of rich foods (custard pie, chocolate, fudge) for an austere "caloric scheme" of gluten bread and lettuce. The humor lies in her claiming joy from "taking in tucks" (taking in dress seams) as her weight decreases. The upper cartoons show Santa Claus and other figures discussing cleanliness and fashion—likely satirizing health-conscious trends of the era. The lower cartoon depicts a drunken hotel guest singing Christmas carols loudly; the clerk suggests sending up his bill as a cure, playing on the assumption that financial shock will sober him. The overall tone ridicules modern fad dieting and suggests that such restrictive eating practices, however fashionable, represent a joyless deprivation masked by forced cheerfulness.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Ballade of the Banter by Mollie Cullen I usep to live on custard pie I And chocolate fudge and = mocha ‘ream Now I eat gluten bread or rye é As part of my caloric scheme: W At normal weight I tip the beam by Nor steel nor whalebone [employ My last year’s snapshots are a scream! Taking in tucks is now my joy! ‘Things came to such a pass that T Turned down all styles that — were SANTA CLAUS KNOWS THAT HIS AND THAT WHISKERS ARE extreme, RED SUIT IS STUFFY UN SANITARY No sash would ever round me tie While love of eats remained supreme. Then, “Thanks, no cake” became my — | 2 theme; Now neither drapes nor frills annoy, 7 No more at puffs do [ blaspheme— rl Taking in tucks is now my joy! ia O The sweets and starch [ now decry , 1 used to hold in much esteem When pastry trays were carried by, Oh, how my eager eves would gleam! But now of the nly dream As with two lettuce leaves I toy I'm much more happy than I seem Taking in tucks is now my joy! HE RE-COMMENCES To LIVE OF DECEMBER His OWN LIFE. | SO- oN THE TWENTY-SIXTH he L’Envoi Sounds rcasonable. , Girls, if your figures you'd redeem i Crawford--That) amateur — detective Crabshaw—He's stumped now. His With fatty foods be very coy : \ claims he’s never had a case he couldn't) own house was broken into the other They have no place in my regime— 2 solve night Taking in tucks is now my joy! | “God rest you, merry gentlemen, Let nothing you dismay!” Hotel Guest—Say, th’ fellah in the room next to me has got a Christmas jag, and is singing carols! | I can’t stop ‘im! | Clerk—Hm-mm. I'll send up his bill; I guess that’! stop him. ‘ comicbooks.com