Judge, 1930-09-06 · page 9 of 36
Judge — September 6, 1930 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Don't Let Them Buy Your Virtue" - Judge Magazine This is a cautionary moral tale presented as a "refined balad" warning young women against trading sexual virtue for material goods. The narrative follows a mother advising her daughter against accepting jewelry and fine things from men in exchange for moral compromise. The imagery shows a mother with her daughter, and separately, an illustration titled "The Lure of Pleasure, or the First False Step" depicting what appears to be a woman at the Lobster Palace (a known venue associated with vice). The satire targets the hypocrisy of wealthy men ("Van Peystor's 'so-and-so'") who seduce working-class women with trinkets. The repeated refrain—that virtue is "the greatest jool of all"—contrasts inner worth against external material temptation. The cautionary tale suggests that accepting such gifts leads to ruin, social disgrace (being known as someone's mistress rather than a respectable wife), and loss of respectability. This reflects Progressive-era anxiety about urban vice and the moral vulnerability of young women.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE S ARerinep Baran™ fy, . “> ~ O./ —¢ BTeemenpous Mora. Bl MOTHER saw her danghter looking in a looking class Ind holding up an earring to her ear, From her expression she could see the time had come to pass To make Life's greatest precept plain and clear; The girl was young and foolish, wholly ignorant of harm, Already quite attractive in a way; And innocestly vain, she sensed the power of her charm Which caused her mother anxiously to say: CHORUS ON'T let them buy your virtue with a trinket, Don't let a bauble lure you from the Right; Though a necklace may entice and a diamond is nice, 1 single slip your future life may blight, ON'T let a shining gewgaw overcome you, Ind cause you from the proper path to fall; Fine array may make fine birds, But hearken to a mother's words— Heaven gave you the greatest jool of all! LAS! If we could only learn by that which we are told, What dolor and what torment could be saved. In time the loving mother lay beneath a headstone cold, The girl sought for the pleasure that she craved. Too soon without the guidance of an older, wiser mind, 1 string of pearls had turned the maiden's head. Though now she owns gems bright enough the clearest eye to blind, She often thinks of what her mother said: | HT give your heart up for a showy trifle, For virtue is its own reward, you know: It may not be very fancy to be known as “Mrs. Clancy,” But it’s better than “Van Peystor’s ‘so-and-so.’” tl hy U HAT good are all your emeralds and rubies If modesty has gone beyond recall? Outer garnish has scant worth, When you think that at your birth Heaven gave to you the greatest jool of all? THE LURE °F PLEASURE, OR THE FIRST FALSE STEP, comicbooks.com