Judge, 1926-03-27 · page 9 of 36
Judge — March 27, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# The Hypnotist at Home This satirical piece mocks the early 20th-century fad of stage hypnotism. A husband attempts to "hypnotize" his wife into becoming an obedient domestic servant—cooking dinner, setting the table, and greeting him pleasantly on command. The joke's punch line: it doesn't work. His wife, still reading the newspaper, dismisses his theatrics and sarcastically tells him dinner will be ready "at seven o'clock as usual," then threatens he can find another boarding house if he doesn't like it. The satire targets both the pseudo-scientific pretensions of hypnotism and the reality of marital power dynamics. Rather than the submissive, controllable woman the husband fantasizes about, he faces a wife who refuses to be impressed or manipulated by his performance. The humor relies on the gap between male expectation and female autonomy—a pointed commentary on gender relations for Judge's readers.
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The Hypnotist at Home AS HE enters the house, his wife looks up from the newspaper she is reading. He stares into her eyes, makes funny motions with his hands, mumbles the magic words and com- mences: “The magic spell is now upon you. You will immediately go out into the kitchen, prepare a palatable meal for me quickly but conscientiously, when it is ready, you will return to the dining-room, set the table and then strike the dinner gong three times. In the event that I do not respond, you will patiently stand in a corner of the room and twiddle your thumbs. When I enter the room, no matter how much later, you will greet me pleasantly. Then I shall remove the spell and you will emerge from your trance. It is now five-thirty, and you will have the meal on the table within ten minutes. Alibazzazza!” He leaves the room. When he returns ten minutes later, his wife is still reading the paper. She pauses long enough to give him a dirty look and to remark: “That stuff may go great outside, but you'll never be able to pull it in this house. Besides, as I’ve told you before, I don’t want you talking shop when you're home. Dinner'll be ready at o'clor usual. If you don’t like it, you can go find another boarding house.” NEWS NOTE. new league has been formed to induce flappers to R. C. O’Brien go in when it rains. Food Values HERE is more nourishment in one sandwich than in half a dozen dinner invitations. Collars and cuffs contain more starch than potatoes, but are not so easily digested. Lettuce is 100 per cent. leaves. The well-balanced restaurant meal is: Proteins, 20 per cent., starches, 20 per cent., water, 25 per cent., } per cent., miscellaneous, nt., and waiter, 10 per cent. The only nourishment in coffee is in the sugar, cream and doughnut put into it. AW, iN Chocolate almond bars are richer in chocolate than in almonds. The comic-strip husband and father had an aisle seat at “The There’s some oil in sardines, but Whimsies,” but had to be thrown out because he created a disturbance every there’s a lot more sardines in oil. time the comedian pulled a wheeze. R.C.OB. comicbooks.com