Judge, 1934-09 · page 10 of 36
Judge — September 1934 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine: "Mistress Pepys' Journal" (August 1933) This is a humorous diary column by Baird Leonard mimicking Samuel Pepys's famous 17th-century diary. The narrator—a society woman with gout—recounts absurd summer experiences in upstate New York. The two cartoons illustrate incidents from her account: the top shows her on horseback asking "Do you have to hit *all* the bumps?"—referring to a painful ride. The lower cartoon depicts what appears to be a chaotic domestic scene with the caption "You wouldn't need a good night watchman, would you?"—likely mocking servant incompetence or household disorder. The satire targets upper-class pretension: the narrator affects Pepys's literary voice while complaining about trivial ailments (ailing feet, a fall), references Robin Hood pageants and literary prizes, and namedrops society figures like Ralph Pulitzer. The juxtaposition of high literary aspirations with slapstick physical comedy creates the humor—she's ridiculous precisely because she takes her minor mishaps so seriously.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Judge Mstress Pep rs ise , Journal By Baird Leonard OOPERSTOWN, N the two y jail, Bessie Andrews going so far as to Y., August L—AI the talk e held for murder nen whe e will not miss their trial even if she must ducted thither in a wheel-chair, and I, be- hat I uch ado 4 ase of my ailing feet, vouch unless [amt taken in one \ minent Robin Hood party, with part of the I st, and all the . latched voods transformed into Sherwood details so authentic with tw abu . Were imp. hour h ers a eak for the 1 Varrov yeomanry when he recalls : ib sund small Albeit 1 vowed ; ys to which the sumer ks and hurled through window pa ' le. c year ) that never again would | go toa T do find myseli, ne plates, which prov t, and if T have m s that it the he f folly once from his s ler blades to royal raime gre: etch ured the poor w ull divergent points, I re of times. Did make a sweeping s such as “T is my last have measured h 1 IT never want to see you Dres mull, and 0 call on Cee on, tine mtide that» 1 tin” And when I did tell Samuel that 1 uppear her busy with order blank on the as Friar Tuck, (a r as loath te would wr for a dozen of a night as Queen hairnets if she ven for him) becau she would live th reated ir ummer, whereto her of caste differences 1 did) easily uade him that Tother qu 2 oWhy not?) You always have.” > he could have a much better time in m s cloth than in MeKim did also tell me how she aton the ut on with Mr. Ralph Pulitzer and naively enjo Ru red him tor ad “Lamb in "and had been gently re minded by him that he was one of the judges to award the book the pri which bears his nam 1 decision wh methinks he and his colleagues migh readily have bettered. UGUST 2. fast, very fine, up ton ass for breal- and straightw ake an early toilet, but my bed side rt me the did fly from ur minute [ set foot to tl beit IT did come do whieh should have by bany, none of the round, and [ sprawled there reminding myself of Confucius’s dictum t our greatest y lies not in never falling but in r c anne | was Is and knees until [reached a support which did my hea ve me levera ndering how much the t have netted me in slap- stick comedy or as an advertisement “You wouldn't need a good night watchman, would you? (Page 3. 8 ase) comicbooks.com