Judge — February 24, 1883 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical page mocks women's shopping habits and fashion obsession. The large left panel shows a chaotic department store scene where a salesclerk announces bargain "three-cent muslin," while women crowd frantically around merchandise and children. The right panels contrast fashion "styles"—"Going In" shows a woman fashionably dressed entering a store, while "Coming out" depicts her disheveled, with rumpled clothing. The final panel, "The result of a day's shopping," shows an exhausted man sprawled in a chair holding bills—presumably the husband facing the financial consequences. The satire targets both excessive female consumerism and the frenzy of bargain-hunting, while portraying shopping as physically and financially exhausting for families. The tone reflects period attitudes about women's spending habits.