Judge — August 18, 1883 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Judge" - August 18, 1885 This cartoon satirizes a political absurdity: **Mr. Edison appearing twice in the same scene**—once as "Comptroller-Mayor" presenting credentials, and once as "Mayor-Comptroller" receiving them. The joke appears to be about **confusion or duplication in New York City municipal positions** in 1885. The cartoonist mocks what seems to be either a bureaucratic muddle or political role reversal involving Thomas Edison or someone with that name in city government. The exaggerated, nearly identical figures underscore the ridiculousness of the situation—presenting credentials to oneself. Without specific historical context about NYC politics that year, the exact incident remains unclear, but the satire targets municipal incompetence or political theater around overlapping mayoral/comptroller duties.