Judge, 1923-12-29 · page 23 of 37
Judge — December 29, 1923 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical cartoons from British sources (reprinted in the American Judge magazine), all mocking early automotive and motorcycle culture. The top cartoon depicts a horse-drawn vehicle losing control, with passengers urging each other to "keep your head"—joking about the chaos of early transportation. The middle cartoon features an Irish domestic servant applicant who admits breaking a mirror caused her job loss, playing on period Irish stereotypes about superstition. The bottom cartoon satirizes gender dynamics and parental authority: a man agrees to let his fiancée ride a motorcycle (which he opposes) specifically because he knows her father will ultimately pay for it—suggesting calculated manipulation disguised as compromise. All three jokes rely on contemporary anxieties: dangerous new vehicles, class-based servant stereotypes, and shifting social norms around women's independence. The humor is gentle, domestic, and reflects early-20th-century concerns about modernity and social change.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“Keep your head, Jarge; keep your head!” “You can have it, William; you can have the whole durned outfit in a minute!”—Humorist (London). Mistress—I hope you're not super- stitious, as I hear you're Irish. Applicant—Well, mum, Oi think it's unlucky to break a lookin’-glass; Oi broke the big hall mirror in me last place and it lost me my job.—Passing Show (London). The One—As you intend to marry her, why did you consent to her riding a motorcycle when you are so opposed to them? The Other—Well, I knew she would have her way in the end, and I calculated that by giving in now her father would have to pay for the motorcycle.—London Mail. 21 comicbooks.com