Judge, 1887-12 · page 28 of 45
Judge — December 1887 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces from Judge magazine's Christmas issue. **"Circumstantial Evidence"** depicts two Black domestic servants discussing a third person. Mrs. Augustine accuses "K'lindy" of consorting with a man of lower status, implying moral judgment through class distinctions. The humor relies on racist dialect and stereotypical servant characterization common to the era. **"Christmas Truths"** offers cynical observations about Christmas behavior across social classes—from children's scheming to the poor man's greater appreciation of free meals than the wealthy man's turkey. This social commentary critiques materialism and hypocrisy. **"A Radical Cure"** shows a hungover man ("Old Cameo") attempting to cure his headache by opening a window, only to forget in the cold—a joke about impaired judgment and ironic self-defeat. The page reflects late-19th/early-20th-century American attitudes: class consciousness, racial stereotyping presented as comedy, and gentle satire of holiday excess and human folly.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CHRISTMAS JUDGE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE. Mrs, Sr. AvGustine CLARINDA—*'t yaint no white trash! 's been an’ went an’ dis'beyed me ‘gain, K’lindy. Who's de white trash yo's been a darncin’ wiv now?” Mistah Thoms'n, what owns de sleepin’-cyar on de N’ Yark Cent'l, done powdahs his gloves.” CHRISTMAS TRUTHS. When a girl’s stocking gets big enough to hold a good deal she stops hanging it up, The impecunious young man who has to give his best girl a present derives no consolation from the fact that Christmas comes but once a year. ‘The small boy who has his heart set on getting a sled, is always careful to put his mother’s mammoth clothes-basket in the most conspicuous part of the chimney corner. The girl with the toothache never appreciates her lover's kind- ness when he neglects to include a box of candy among his Christmas gifts. The rich man cannot appreciate his turkey half so much as the tramp who manages to get elbow room at the free-lunch counter. The shrewd boy hangs up his biggest stocking on Christmas eve. Santa Claus never gets his presents mixed. A RADICAL CURE. Oxb Cameo, after a night with the boy: pts an expedient for the cure of a headache, but. — it's a cold night, and he forgets to close the window, comicbooks.com