Judge, 1890-07-12 · page 16 of 16
Judge — July 12, 1890 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This Judge page contains two related cartoons using racist dialect and imagery to satirize wartime food shortages and rationing. Both depict white farmers guarding watermelons against Black people, using period slurs. The top panel shows a farmer explaining he and a neighbor have been taking turns watching their watermelon because a Black family moved nearby. The bottom panel depicts a Black man caught stealing, confessing he couldn't resist temptation and tunneled under the fence. The "war-time tactics" title suggests these are meant as humorous takes on scarcity and vigilance during wartime. The satire targets both the perceived threat to agricultural property and the depicted characters' inability to resist stealing—perpetuating deeply harmful racial stereotypes common in early 20th-century American humor publications. The content reflects the casual racism typical of Judge magazine during this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
\ ; =i oll WAR-TIME TACTICS Farmer Crinas—"Thar's th’ biggest water-melyon in th’ county. They’s a fambly of coons moved inter th’ nex" place, an’ Eph an’ me has been takin’ turns watchin’ of it fer a week. We're goin’ t’ pick her now.” we AE Se Hantrqor!. c yo Mk. Rirrexnouse —* Doan’ shoot, boss! F" massy’s sake, doan’ shoot. I's been ’rastlin’ wiv d’ tem‘tation fo’ a long time, but hit wuz too much, an'I done tunneled undah d’ fence.” comicbooks.com