Judge, 1926-06-26 · page 8 of 37
Judge — June 26, 1926 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Outline of Humor" - Judge Magazine Satire This page satirizes historical narratives by deliberately inverting causality with absurd humor. The top cartoon shows a conductor ejecting a passenger, claiming the timetable says they're "not there yet" — a visual gag about schedules and expectations. The main text mockingly "explains" major historical events through trivial incidents. Paul Revere's famous midnight ride supposedly resulted from an English nobleman's rudeness about bowling stiffness, not genuine revolutionary alarm. More pointedly, the French Revolution is attributed entirely to Marat and Charlotte Corday's bathroom quarrel over red suspenders — a crude joke reducing serious historical upheaval to domestic embarrassment and crude innuendo. Judge Jr. is lampooning how simplified popular histories reduce complex events to anecdotes and personalities, while also poking fun at contemporary fascination with sensationalized historical narratives. The irreverent tone mocks both grand historical pretension and readers' appetite for reductive explanations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
rr a Conpuctor—Hey! “Liar! The time-table says so!” THE OUTLINE OF HUMOR Being a Plain History of Wit and Humor By JupGE, Jr. (What went on last week?) Nothing! They went and left me out on account of the darn Adcertis- ing Number! VII ELL, as we all know America was discovered, and nearly every- body in Europe began to move over there, just like everybody’s going to Florida now, which brings us right up to the Revolutionary War and what caused it. It seems Paul Revere, who was quite a young man about town in those days, met an English nobleman in Lexington one day and remarked casually that he was a little stiff from bowling. Well, sir, what do you think the English nobleman said? He looked Paul straight in the eye and in that insolent way only an English nobleman can look, he snapped, “I don’t care where you're Marat at work. (Typewriter by Remington ) from!” Well, sir, that made Paul so mad that he jumped on a horse in his evening clothes. (Note—the horse wasn’t in evening clothes) and gal- loped away shouting at the top of his voice: “The British are rummies! The British are rummies!” Well, sir, everybody heard him and thought he said, “The British are coming!” and they all ran out in their night clothes and there was a terrible battle. But, as we all know, right is might and America became a free country. We're not there yet! Vu It wasn’t long after this (see Hia- watha’s History of the World) that the French Revolution started and, my, what a terrible affair that was and what a little thing started it. It seems there was a man named Marat (see Marat’s*L’Ami du Peuple”) and he used tosit in hisbath and write, un- like most people who prefer to sing. Well, one day Charlotte Corday, a friend of his, came in to see him. He was in his bath and couldn't very well rise when she entered the room and shetoldhim hewas nogentleman. He came right back at her and told her she was no lady which started the ball rolling so to speak. Marat was rather embarrassed at the awkwardness of the situation and just to break the ice he asked Charlotte, for that was her name, why the King wore red suspenders and when she innocently asked why Marat said, “To hcld his pants up!” Well, sir, that made Charlotte so mad she stabbed him right there in the bathtub and that really caused the French Revolution! (Continued nert week) comicbooks.com