Judge — April 19, 1890 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts a military figure (labeled "Major Grover," likely President Grover Cleveland) being confronted by musicians who refuse to play "Annie Laurie"—a popular tune written on a placard he's posting on a wall. The Capitol Building appears in the background. The cartoon uses the metaphor of a musicians' strike to comment on public dissatisfaction with Cleveland's policies or political direction. "The public is dead tired" of the current "tune" (policies), the musicians declare. The caricatured figure on the right appears to represent a political opponent or critic. This is political commentary on Cleveland's unpopularity or a specific controversial policy, using the strike imagery popular during the Gilded Age labor disputes to suggest widespread public rejection of his administration's direction.