Judge, 1889-01-26 · page 16 of 16
Judge — January 26, 1889 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical cartoon about President-elect Harrison (likely William Henry Harrison, elected 1840) being overwhelmed by social invitations. The joke proposes a practical solution: use mechanical dummy figures to attend events in his place, so he needn't personally attend every invitation. The humor relies on several layers: 1. **The social burden**: Harrison is drowning in obligatory social engagements—a common complaint for public figures then and now. 2. **The absurd "solution"**: Sending wind-up dummy figures instead is obviously ridiculous, but presented matter-of-factly by the servant character (appears to be named Elijah). 3. **The warning**: "Don't get the figures mixed" suggests the dummies are interchangeable—implying all these social appearances are equally hollow and meaningless anyway. The satire critiques both the exhausting nature of presidential social obligations and, more sharply, the superficiality of such formal events where mechanical attendance would suffice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
E 5 o n x ° fo) 2 2 E ie) cs) | THE DUMMY HARRISONS-JUDGE'S SUGGESTION FOR THE RELIEF OF THE PRESIDENT-ELECT, WHO IS BEING FLOODED WITH INVITATIONS. Gey. Hinnisox--Here is another invitation, Flijah, which must be accepted. Wind up the proper figure, and send it by express. But don't get the figures mixed.