Judge — July 15, 1893 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon depicts fashionable women at what appears to be a social gathering or beach resort. The women hold papers labeled "WAITING" or similar text, suggesting they are waiting for suitors or romantic attention. The satire targets the social anxiety of unmarried women during the marriage season—likely the late 19th or early 20th century, when "the season" referred to the formal social period for courtship. The "chorus of lonely maidens" humorously portrays women as eager participants in the marriage market, dressed in elaborate fashions yet still waiting hopefully for male attention. The joke mocks both female desperation for matrimony and the ritualistic nature of upper-class courtship during this era.