Judge — September 18, 1897 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1897 Judge cartoon by Victor Gillam depicts "Prosperity" as a classical female figure triumphantly snuffing out industrial hazards. On the left, mills and factories belch smoke near a sign reading "MILLS AND FACTORIES...RUNNING ON FULL TIME AND GIVING EMPLOYMENT." The satire celebrates American industrial growth and worker employment during a period of economic expansion. "Prosperity" literally extinguishes the problems—depicted as snake-like demons—that plagued the economy: presumably unemployment, labor unrest, and economic hardship. The cartoon reflects late-19th-century optimism about industrial capitalism's ability to solve social problems through growth. The classical allegorical style was typical of Judge's visual rhetoric, presenting economic recovery as a noble, inevitable force overcoming previous difficulties.