Judge — February 2, 1889 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *Judge* satirizes wealthy Eastern elites adopting Western ranch life as a fashionable trend. The narrative follows "Simpson Phipps of Boston," a young man from a prominent family persuaded by romantic imagery of a "$10,000 ranch" to convince his parents to send him west. The cartoon mocks the pretension of Eastern society—where "ranch life is the correct thing, you know"—suggesting that wealthy Bostonians adopted Western living as a status symbol rather than genuine interest. The "prodigal" reference implies wastefulness, as this pampered young man abandons city comfort. This reflects *Judge*'s typical criticism of affectation among the American upper class, ridiculing how fashionable trends (in this case, Western rusticity) were embraced superficially by those with means, regardless of authenticity or practicality.