Judge — December 2, 1882 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Monopolists' Thanksgiving" (1882) This cartoon satirizes wealthy industrialists' indifference to poverty. Three elaborately dressed men—likely representing railroad and business monopolists of the Gilded Age (the caption mentions Vanderbilt, the railroad magnate)—dine lavishly while toasting. The central figure raises his glass with the sardonic toast: "The Poor Be D——d" (damned). The satire criticizes how monopolists accumulated vast wealth through controlling industries while ignoring or actively harming working-class Americans. The fancy medals and decorations mock their self-importance. The small figures boxing in the background may represent common people struggling. This reflects 1880s-era criticism of unchecked corporate power and wealth inequality, themes that drove reform movements of that era.