Judge, 1924-09-13 · page 11 of 72
Judge — September 13, 1924 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page satirizes the formulaic speeches given by visiting speakers at service club meetings (Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions). The satire is in the text itself, not the cartoons. The joke is that speakers use a standard template: open with an Irish dialect joke ("Pat and Mike"), flatter the local audience by praising their city's progress and hospitality, ask rhetorical questions about what drives their success, then answer by pointing to the audience themselves, and close with another Irish dialect joke (the fireflies/mosquitoes bit). The cartoons above and below illustrate the outdoor/social club setting but don't appear to be directly satirical. The text's humor depends on readers recognizing how predictable and formulaic these speeches are—the same structure and even the same ethnic jokes repeated endlessly at different clubs. The byline "Chet Johnson" attributes the satire. This captures mid-20th-century American club culture and its reliance on clichéd speaking formulas.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Handy Speech TT following speech is particn- larly adapted to meetings of Kiwanis, Rotary, Lions and other clubs and should be memorized by who frequently visit cubs ange cities: “Mr, President and Members of the Club: Tam = re- minded of the story of Pat and Mike, two [rishmen who had not heen in this country very long. met Mike one day and said: se. who vas dat lady I saw youse wid yistiddy? ... Have you heard this one, gentlemen? Well, T'll tell it. anyway. And Pat replied: ‘Oi. yoi! Mike, dat air weren't no lady: dat bane my vife, Lena, pi yim- miny!” “And that’s the way I feel when an intelligent group representative men like you, Men, you have a wonderful city here. ‘This morning I said to Mr. ‘What great force is back of such progress? What guid- ing spirit directs such hospitality?” “Men, T have found the answer tint lore wonderful? ( \Funnyoones My Swedie Went Avi to those two questions at) this lunches: When TP look into your faces arowned this table. Pean under. stand wh is rapidly becoming the greatest city in this part of the country.” Tn closing Lam reminded of the story of Pat and Mike, two Trish- men who had not been in’ this country very long. Pat and Mike were ina hotel room in New Jersey and the mosquitoes (aughter) were bothering them. “At last Mike said: ‘Pat, vy not douse de lights and then they won't bane able to find us.” So they put out the lights. Have you heard this on itlemen? Well, any how, pretty soon some fireflies came in through the window and Pat no, it was Mike—Mike said: “Hully chee, Pat, heah comes dem dar mosquitoes after us wid their lan terns!” “Gentlemen, I thank you, and if any of you ever come to I hope you will do me the honor of being my guests at our luncheon club, and T think you will enjoy meeting the fellows.” Chet Johnson