Judge, 1928-05-05 · page 19 of 36
Judge — May 5, 1928 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous song mourning the death of a father, presented as sheet music. The joke centers on the "moustache cup"—a real Victorian-era novelty item with a guard to keep mustache hair dry while drinking. The satire mocks sentimental Victorian death rituals. The song describes replacing the father's morning coffee routine (where he'd spill Java on his vest) with his ascension to heaven as an "angel." References to "his race is run" and "the number's up" use gambling/racing terminology to reduce death to sporting terms, adding irreverent humor. The accompanying cherub illustration underscores the saccharine imagery. The overall effect ridicules excessive mourning customs and the gap between dignified death expectations and messy human reality—the stained vest being the mundane truth beneath the sentimentality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
DGKE MOUSTACHE CUP oa = = SS SS more he'll fra- grant Ja-va sup, And spill it on his z eee Se eS es vest. Where once the gen-tle sound of ‘swustt In-voked the morn-ing fA AR AR Ae }$—— — == sun, We must ex-pect an emp-ty hush, His High-er Life's be- AR (cadenza indicating celestial voices) a9, a7 ~ 4 ee gun. Ah Ah Ah His race is run; the a ff SSS SSS) ‘ num-ber’s up* And calmed the an-quished brow, So fm AR aaa SSE ee put a-way the mous-tache cup, For Dads an An-gel now.” *A RACING TERM Lantern Slides comicbooks.com