Judge, 1897-02-13 · page 4 of 16
Judge — February 13, 1897 — page 4: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page from *Judge* contains several satirical pieces reflecting late-19th/early-20th-century attitudes: **"The Queerness of the Old Southern Darkies"** presents a lengthy racist sketch depicting formerly enslaved Black people in post-emancipation Virginia through exaggerated dialect and stereotypes. The piece portrays them as intellectually inferior, dependent, and incapable of self-sufficiency—a common white supremacist argument of the era justifying continued subjugation. The accompanying illustrations and anecdotes (Uncle Nahum, Aunt Sally, Uncle Jim) reinforce these caricatures through mangled speech patterns presented as comic. The other brief jokes—"Pa Was a Kicker," "A Sure Test," "A Drop Too Much"—are unrelated social humor typical of the magazine's satirical content. **Context**: This reflects *Judge's* casual racism consistent with mainstream American publications of this period, where minstrelsy-influenced Black caricature remained socially acceptable and profitable entertainment for white audiences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4100 JUDGE'S FAVORITES. “LA BELLE OTERO.” Resplendent Otero, In song and bol You merit, by beauty. your title, /a delle. Your dazzle of jewels bt of duels), f You brilliant, as well, (To sa May justify call THE QUEERNESS OF THE OLD SOUTHERN DARKIES middle of old Virginia, far from the mad- ¢ crowd, the manners and customs of the te-bellum days are to a great extent maintained. The negro is in no wise improved by emancipation. Having had their master's care in earlier days, they are now a helpless, irresponsible swarm of humanity, with arrogance enough to think themselves “ quite as good as you are,” but not intelligence enough to shift for themselves. The old obedience to the whites is still observed among them, and “ Massa “THE SONG OF THE SHIRT." (A new adaptation ) Suage George" and “ Mis- sy Annie” are titles freely given to their very elderly em- ployers. They are fond of using words and phrases whose meanings are quite beyond their com- prehension. The following gibberish was a standard for- mula with which gray-wooled Uncle Nahum always re- warded the donor of a drink of whisky: “ Sarvant, mas- sa. Howdy, howdy, what yo’ got dar? Wedder - beaten brown skin, massa from Kaintuck day befo’ to-morrow, likewise howdy, howdy, raw- bony boy runned offem Sandy Bollin de day befo’ to- morrow, likewise a lame duck, chuck ‘em in, seven tousand one hunderd ‘nough ter mek a dorg smile let ‘lone a common man, ter see de pudding turn ter de bottom of de fryin’-pan, ‘cose ‘tis, dar now, massa, bleegins an’ t'anks, massa. Berry good stuff, fuss-rate, massa,” and, bowing and ducking, old Nahum goes off convinced that his eloquence has paid for his entertainment. “T's mos’ aggerawated to def ‘cause my li'l’ baby she daid,” said weeping Tilda. And, “ She no need t' holler ‘bout dat,” said envious Aunt Sally, seeing the little white dress given the young mother for the dead baby’s grave-toilet. “She ain't left constolated; she got dem twins, Linkum an’ Grarfield, jes’ fat as shoats. Aunt Sally decided she would marry for the third time. Her choice fell upon worthless, thieving Jake. She only answered stubbornly, to all our remonstrances, “ Dem two fust men was all right, honey, but yo’ cain’t ‘spect fo’ ter get three stanchionabe (substantial) men han’ runnin’. Mebbe fourth time I gits better luck.” “ Sally ain't nebber had no sense," commented her decrepit brother, Uncle Jim," after dat time she got brained wid de fever an’ tuk de terri- fied ammonics in her chest. Dat wus dur- in’ de war, an’ ole miss she tried to fotch dem sicknesses outen her wid horsehoun’-tea an’ morpherine - powders, when de pore t'ing was all twisted to one side herself wid de par- oloxy. PA WAS A KICKER, Pa believes in putting his best foot forward.” “I have met him when be felt that way.” Miss Casity— Jack MeLtow- . MUNGERYOKD, A SURE TEST. Ted—" What did you do after the stag- party was over?” Ned—" We made up a pool to see which of us had the biggest ja Ted—“ How did you decide it?” Ned—“ We went down town and stood in front of a sky- scraper. Each of us began counting, and the fellow who saw the most stories got the money.” A DROP TOO MUCH. Sassy Site—" Hyar ‘bout Tarantler Jim passin’ in his chips las’ night?" Faro Fainweatner—" Pore kyote! I allers ‘lowed he'd take a ‘drop’ too much sum time.” Sassy Sime—"' Yer called ther turn, pard ; he mistook ther gulch fer ther trail las’ night.” comicbooks.com