Judge, 1896-11-21 · page 16 of 16
Judge — November 21, 1896 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1896 Judge cartoon satirizes the era's abundance of unregulated medical quackery and folk remedies. A sickly man named "Thinskin" receives increasingly absurd health advice from various sources: a physician pushing patent medicine ("Dr. Hackingcough's consumption remedy"), a matchmaker suggesting marriage as a cure, and an old woman recommending bizarre herbal concoctions (tag-alder, ginseng, wormwood, sassafras mixed in gin). The humor builds as each "cure" proves more ridiculous than the last. Thinskin's exasperated final line—threatening to marry the widow if none of this works—suggests he's overwhelmed by contradictory, worthless advice. The footnote indicates an actual wedding was postponed due to his condition, underlining the chaos these false remedies create. The cartoon mocks both medical incompetence and the gullibility of patients desperate for relief in an era before modern medicine or FDA regulation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“My dear Mr. Thinskin, why don’t you consult a physician and get some advice regarding your condition? "m sure you ought to try a bottle of Dr, Hackingcough’s consumption remedy.” “All bosb, Mr: Thinskin ; there’s nothing ails you except that you're lonely and despondent and need some- one to cheer you up. Now, how would a nice young it tt bie he dm undertont)—"* Great Scott! what next?” COPYMONT 1896, BY THE JUDGE PUBLISHING COMPANY OF REW YORK. “Oh, ye can't tell me what ails ye. It's yer liver; that’s what it is. What ye wants ter do is git some v. old cabbage, put in castor-oil and rhubarb and peanyroyal, bile it down and take it every ten minutes.” “By heavens! I've got everything so far recom- mended except the widow, and if this dose don’t cure me I'll marry her too.” A VICTIM OF MEDICAL ADVICE. ‘Now here I brought them purpose for yer—there's tag-alder, ginshang, wormwood an’ sas'fras. Now put ‘em in mmyjohn of gin an’ don't yer be stingy when yer taki ‘a nS Kin. EDERAL ADTCE grandmothers, Mr. Thinskin His case is a conundrum to S.—Owing to the unfortunate age with the widow Jones has been postponed indefinitely.) Seciett &Wihelms Litho Co New York comicbooks.com