Judge, 1893-12-09 · page 24 of 52
Judge — December 9, 1893 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains multiple satirical vignettes typical of late 19th/early 20th-century humor: **Top panels**: Mock a circus strongman's act, where managers recruit audience members to attempt lifting a barrel—the joke being the contrast between the performer's claimed strength and ordinary spectators' inability to budge it. **"Discouraging"**: A father asks a boy about Christmas presents; the boy admits he didn't receive half what he prayed for—cynical commentary on childhood disappointment. **"The Sequel"**: A follow-up joke about a child groaning after overeating at Christmas dinner rather than from the weight of gifts. **"Raw Hand"**: A brief gag about someone being rushed before completing a task (unclear full context). **Bottom illustrations**: "Innocent Jamie and His Patent Contracting Buggy-Seat" satirizes a young man's narrow buggy seat—supposedly designed to promote "fresh air circulation" between couples, but the caption's final line reveals the real purpose: creating romantic closeness in twilight ("lovers' lane"). The page's overall theme plays on deception and hidden motives beneath respectable pretenses.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN ONE WANTS TO BE ALONE.” MANAGER —"' Before the strong man exhibits his marvelous strength by ae A r f lifting the barrel in his tecth, will four of the strongest spectators try with \,,,, WANAGER—" Vou see the great weight, ladies and gents | ‘They try in their combined strength to raise it from the floor?” i HE SE EL. DISCOURAGING. uals el a ! Mr. Fangle (to Johnny Cumso) —“* Well. Mio bare els uocked Johnny, are you praying for many Christmas Cisne hee orev presents this year ? : as feast! The Hopi ain't’ E GAY gel bell By wromed under the weight of good é “That's very nice.” “But, ab, after the feast it was little Tommy who groaned under the weight of good things.” Raw WAND (appearing from below) — didn’t give me time to git de tope unketched INNOCENT JAMIE AND HIS PATENT CONTRACTING BUGGY-SEAT. Paterfamilias remarks that buggy-driving would be all right if all of the young men would follow Jamie's policy of using a seat wide enough to allow a good circulation of fresh air to both parties, But he didn’t see Jamie's patent in full swing in the soft twilight of lovers’ lane. comicbooks.com