Judge — October 24, 1925 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous comic strip about an American woman named Betty vacationing in Brittany, France. The satire plays on cultural differences and the 1920s craze for jazz-age dancing (the Charleston). The jokes include: Betty buying local "dancing pumps" and attempting the Charleston in her new French kicks, awkwardly failing at the dance; getting a haircut at a local Breton barber; and observing that French social rules are "as patch as patch can" (meaning haphazard or unpredictable). The central panel shows her in a French café with signs for "Cidre," "Vin Blanc," and "Bière." The strip gently mocks both American tourists abroad trying to fit in with local fashions and the perceived looseness of French social customs compared to American propriety.