Judge, 1927-04-16 · page 16 of 36
Judge — April 16, 1927 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two related satirical pieces mocking Paul Revere's famous midnight ride by imagining his wife accompanying him. **Top cartoon**: Shows a man operating some kind of mechanical device while perched on a post overlooking a colonial town, illustrating the disruption caused by a nagging wife's presence during a historically significant moment. **Bottom section**: A humorous fictional account where Paul's wife constantly complains, second-guesses directions, criticizes his horsemanship, and generally undermines the urgency of his revolutionary mission. She misreads signs, doubts the lantern signal, and nags about minor discomforts ("April has the chilliest air"). **The satire**: Judge magazine mocks both nagging wives and the romanticized "heroic man on important mission" trope by showing how domestic complaint and backseat-driving would trivialize even America's founding moment. The joke assumes readers find wives' practical concerns and fault-finding inherently comedic and obstructive to male achievement. The accompanying illustration shows committee members apparently unable to agree, likely satirizing book club selections.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE Dh “This is one on the Boss- Paul Revere’s Ride if Paul’s Wife Had Been Along “Yor know I never talk about any one, Paul, but I’m sure you're wasting your time. Your friend will no more hang a lantern in that tower tonight than I'll fly across the ocean. He’s off drink- ing somewhere, while you're standing here in this chilly air— and April has the chilliest air of the year, you know— onsense! That isn’t a lantern, Paul. That's a shooting-star. . . . What? Well, it’s stopped shooting for a few minutes— “Well, all right then, it is a lan- tern. It certainly took him long enough to hang it. You'd think we had nothing else to do tonight— “PAUL! How dare you throw me up on that horse like that! You might have broken my— the old Scrooge can’t get along without me!” Unfortunately “Hold me! HOLD ME! If I wouldn't have better control of a horse— Suppose it does tak minute longer to get sta You'd think the world depended on your taking that message to- night. I'll wager tomorrow night would do just as well—just as— “LOOK OUT for that hitching- post! What a rider you are! If I hadn't yelled you'd have struck that post and killed us both. Missed it by a mile? You did not. ed it by much you s six feet— Left. Left! ... Turn LEFT. The road to Middlebury is Left. - Now you'll have to go back. If you'd only listened to me in the first place—but you never do. What? The sign says the road to Middlebury is right. I don’t be- lieve it. Some one has changed the signs. Who? Some boys of course. Boys do things like that . . . Ask at that house and you'll see... What? Th y it was the right fork too? . .. Paul Revere! Such language. Suppose I did make a mistake. I never pretended to be God, did I? . . . “Stop! Stop!! STOP!... Oh! You didn’t have to stop so sharp. I almost fell on my head. +++ What did you want to stop all the committee of “The best book of the month club” had novels published the same month. comicbooks.com