Judge, 1929-07-20 · page 11 of 36
Judge — July 20, 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Diary of an Absent-Minded Fella" This humorous diary by George Mitchell depicts a wealthy, scatterbrained protagonist whose organizational chaos cascades into social and financial mishaps. The joke centers on his reliance on a memo book to track social obligations—he's so forgetful he double-books dinner invitations to both the Seymours and Elsie Hood for the same Monday night. His incompetence extends to banking: he claims to have mailed a deposit that never arrives, then discovers his secretary Meadows mistakenly sent it to Seymour instead. He attempts damage control by sending flowers to Elsie (whom he offended), but these too go astray. The accompanying cartoon shows "trap shooting in Scotland"—likely illustrating the chaos of upper-class leisure activities. The separate small cartoon mocks sentimental pretension: a woman's car flag automatically lowers to half-mast when hit—absurd conspicuous consumption. The satire targets careless wealthy men dependent on servants and social clubs, whose bumbling incompetence creates unnecessary drama among their social circle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE The Diary of an Absent- Minded Fella Monday Can't understand the Sey- mours. I asked them to dinner tonight at the Club and. they never showed up. Called. them on the phone, but they were out. I'm sure I invited them for Monday. Tuesday Still can’t understand the Sey- mours. I asked them to dinner last night at the Club, The Ned me up to coming tonight, so [ had to them and pay for last ni well because of reservations. Sey mour must be going cuckoo. I wish I could remember where I put my little memo book I keep dates in. I'd like to pin that on old Seymour. Wednesday Had a funny experience at the Belasco Theatre this evening. ‘The man at the door said I had tickets for Monday night. I said they couldn't be for Monday, be- ause I was having the Seymours to dinner at the Club and did he think I was flighty? He said he didn’t know about that but that the tickets were for Monday . . . That reminds me, I wonder why Elsie Hood gave me that dirty look last night at the Club? Could I have asked her to go to the Belasco with me and yet I seem to have had two tickets. ... [ must find that little memo book. Thursday Found my little memo book. I happened to mention it to \ dows and he said it was in my to say they were ake Nonsense, Trap shooting in Scotland. vest pocket where I alw carry it, and sure enough it was. Any- how, S right after all and so was Elsie Hood. I've got them both down for Monday night. I don't see how I could have done a thing like that... . I'll send her some flowers in the morning. . . Sentimental lady has car carry flag that is automatically lowered to half-mast when anyone is hit. Friday Got the flowers off all right to Elsie. The Bank called me up to say I’m overdrawn again. Can't understand why. I ex- plained that I had made a deposit by mail. They say they didn’t get it. I'm sure I gave the letter to Meadows to post. Guess I'll have to let Meadows go! Saturday Went to the Bank this morn- ing to straighten out my balance. The cashier said I was still over- drawn and thanked me for the flowers... . What flowers? I didn't send that nit-wit any flowers Later Seymour called up to say he had received a check from me. Meadows must have sent the bank deposit to him. Sunday Called up the Bank to explain about that deposit and they were closed. Hope they haven't gone to the wall, —Grorce Mitcnece