Judge — October 8, 1927 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Doorman on His Night Off" This four-panel comic depicts a military doorman's evening transformation. In the first two panels (top), he stands formally in uniform at what appears to be an armory or theater entrance, marked "FINIS" (finished/end of shift). In the bottom panels, his night off reveals a dramatic reversal: he's now dressed as an elaborately costumed theatrical figure—possibly a European nobleman or operatic character with ornate regalia, feathers, and jewelry. He's being attended to by a woman in equally fancy dress. The satire contrasts his rigid, subordinate role as a doorman with his fantastical alter-ego during leisure time. The joke likely mocks working-class aspirations to aristocratic grandeur, or satirizes the escapist fantasies people pursue in evenings out—theater, opera, or costume entertainment were popular diversions of the era. The exaggerated theatrical costume emphasizes the absurdity of the transformation.