Judge — December 1889 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains three related vignettes mocking nouveau riche behavior and social climbing at a fancy Christmas gathering. **"Bonhomie"** (top): An awkwardly introduced man ("Uncle Henry") stammers trying to impress a duchess, satirizing working-class discomfort with aristocratic society. **"He Took Them Back"** (bottom left): Mr. Elson compliments a woman's hat plumes, unaware they belong to Miss Cunningham—satirizing competitive materialism and the obsession with exotic fashion (ostrich feathers from Arabia were luxury items). **The Parrot** (bottom right): A parrot squawks "They're mine," exposing the woman's deception—the joke being that even a bird can shame her pretension. The overall mockery targets 1890s-era social ambition: people acquiring expensive possessions to seem refined while lacking actual breeding or wit. The dialect and caricature suggest class-based humor typical of Judge magazine's satirical approach.