Judge, 1892-01-16 · page 4 of 16
Judge — January 16, 1892 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This nine-panel comic satirizes hypocrisy and moral inconsistency. "Old Man Rocks," a wealthy New York father, discovers his son in Paris accidentally mailed him an explicit French illustrated journal instead of a respectable newspaper (Figaro). Rocks initially reacts with moral outrage, planning to punish the boy and scold him about propriety. However, by the final panels, the old man becomes fascinated by the publication, ultimately deciding to subscribe to it himself for delivery to his office—completely reversing his sanctimonious stance. The satire targets Victorian-era moralizing: respectable gentlemen publicly condemned such materials while privately consuming them. The comic mocks the gap between stated principles and actual behavior, suggesting that "Old Man Rocks" was never genuinely offended, merely performing respectability until temptation overcame him. This was a familiar Judge magazine theme—exposing the hypocrisy of the wealthy and supposedly virtuous.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
38 WALE © ML e,. ee eae to hab ouh fun all An’ coitery an’ polk’ till y* has yer Disyah eighteen hun'dan' ninety-two. Dat coon wid ‘is legs an’ ‘is eyes askew il Jess luk right dar at de bills o' far’ _—'LI twist ‘isseff like a live corkscrew, ‘An’ youse can see jess whar we ar’. An’ we bof ‘Il dance till de ahr am Dar's cream an’ de fish an’ de dance blue, quadrille An’ whoop for de y'ah ob ‘ninety-two, AN EXPLANATION. Bobby —Pa, what does it mean when it says a man’s estate was divided according to law?” Pa—*It means, Bobby, that the heirs of the dead man get what is left after the lawyers get through,” Wavxpasne ne ince emt: ONE THING NEEDFUL. a . swat is going to be the first step taken in the movement to make : New York a better place in which to live?” THE DESIGN FOR THE BLACKVILLE CLUB'S ANNUAL “We're all going to get together and pray for rain.” BALL TICKET. . pe 1.—Youno Rocks (in Pari: A CASE FOR MR. COMSTOCK. art in the gay French capital) —" Heavens, Bob! In a fit of absent-mindedness I wrapped up that 2.—OLD 3 naughty illustrated French journal that Brown left over Ais mail) here the other night in place of this Figaro and sent A Figaro, I guess, it to my governor. Great agony ! What if he should cut off my allowance and make me go home?" Rocks (in New York, looking ee, here's Charlie's handwriting. 3.—OLp Man Rocks —* Uh!’ 6. OLD Max Rocks—"Ob! But I must not 4. OLD Man Rocks— Um! ! !" 5. OLD Maw Rocks—" Um! um! um! um!!!!" forget the duty of a father, I'll write the boy a sharp note for sending his respectable old dad a paper of this sort.”” _9.—OLD Man Rocks (aking up the journal guess that 8.—OLD MAN Rocks (to the maid) —" Here, 2871") —*" Ha, ha, ha! Um, um, um! Chic ’s no ues pit Gibie ee ene ee name for it. I think I'll just write to the publishers : in Paris and subscribe, Ican have it sent to my office, Um, um, um!" —OLD Man Rocks —"* There, I him, a little, comicbooks.com