Judge — July 11, 1896 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Small Choice in Rotten Apples" — Judge, July 11, 1896 This political cartoon satirizes the 1896 U.S. presidential election choices. An old farmer, labeled with what appears to be a voter's tag, examines rotten apples spilling from a basket. The apples likely represent the major candidates or platforms available to voters that year—specifically the competing visions of William McKinley (Republican) and William Jennings Bryan (Democrat/Populist), whose campaigns centered on currency policy and economic direction. The "rotten apples" metaphor suggests both major candidates were equally undesirable or corrupt options. The rural farmer figure emphasizes how ordinary working Americans felt trapped between unsatisfactory political choices, unable to find a genuinely appealing candidate regardless of their selection.