Judge — January 11, 1896 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical comic about New Year's resolutions—the famously broken promises people make annually. The page shows multiple cartoon vignettes, each depicting a character stating an ambitious resolution, with the implicit joke being that these won't be kept. Visible resolutions include Elder Johnson resolving to become vegetarian, "Weary Willie" making unspecified promises, and "The Misses" planning to serve wine next year (with a note that Cousin Cora resolves to drink only tea—likely ironic commentary on temperance). The humor relies on the universal human experience of making grandiose New Year's pledges while everyone knows they'll fail. The cartoons appear to mock various social types and their predictable, hollow self-improvement attempts. The satire is social rather than explicitly political, targeting human nature and hypocrisy.