Judge, 1894-03-10 · page 16 of 16
Judge — March 10, 1894 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical instructional guide mocking the lazy visual clichés used by cartoonists in American comic papers of the era (likely early 1900s). Rather than depicting actual human diversity, the guide ridicules standardized caricatures: fathers shown only in dressing gowns with newspapers; temperance advocates depicted identically; Frenchmen in exaggerated poses; burglars with broken noses; domestic workers as slovenly; Irish characters reduced to oversized feet and hands. The satire targets both cartoonists' creative laziness and their reliance on ethnic and class stereotypes. By presenting these formulas as mandatory conventions "the public demands," Judge exposes how illustration perpetuated crude, dehumanizing tropes while claiming to represent reality. The page ironically "teaches" what actually constitutes visual prejudice masquerading as artistic convention.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
¥\ Always draw the pater-fa- { smilias in dressing - gown and carpet slippers with newspaper. i Total abstinence is always 7 3 depicted like this in comic pa- pers. The public demands it. af — ‘Wealth can always be shown rt N\ shee See ad poncerom ° Always draw the French- man in this attitude. Bro) snocgites a4 cheap s wells. ould carry big canes, smoke Fy iad wear high collars, This tesay re The comic-paper burglar has a broken nose and only shaves nce in three weeks. When sending drawingstoa SETS SS ao ¢ per always send one o} * “ ‘The umbrella must always a ao There is no happy medium a domestics in comic ** It youcan'tgettheIrishman be a baggy affair. Gow." Vou must make them any other way why put big feet slovenly or dainty. and hands on him. A FEW THINGS THE YOUNG COMIC ARTISTS MUST BEAR IN MIND. comicbooks.com .