Judge, 1898-01-15 · page 5 of 16
Judge — January 15, 1898 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes African American folklore and superstition through stereotyped dialect humor typical of the era. The main cartoon depicts "Pete Jackson" (drawn in caricature) complaining to a white policeman about being "conjured" by a hoodoo doctor neighbor. Pete attributes his misfortunes—lost fights, failed hunting, romantic rejection—to a magical charm hidden under his doorstep, which the policeman dismissively agrees to remove. The satire ridicules both Black superstitious beliefs and the condescension of white authority figures who treat the complaint as harmless delusion. Supporting cartoons mock Irish immigrant women's domestic concerns and include a joke about a woman choosing between divorce and bigamy. The page reflects late-19th/early-20th century attitudes: reinforcing racial stereotypes through exaggerated dialect while presenting superstition as inherent to Black culture, thereby justifying paternalistic attitudes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE POWER OF THE HOODOO. IETE JACKSON'S agitation and fear were plainly visible as he approached Policeman Brown to relate his trouble. “Mistah Off sab," said the negro, “I's goter complaint toe make agin adoc- tah dat is stayin’ nex’ do’ toe me, obah in Cottontown.”” “Well, Pete, what is the trouble this time ?" asked the officer. “Yo' see, it's dis way. Dat nig- gah, Obediah Mole- foot, is a hoodoo doctah, an’ he’s done gone an’ t'rowed a spell obah me.” Nonsense, Pete! You've been drinking agai "Deed I ain't, boss. Dat niggah hab suahly got me conjured." “ How did he do it, Pete?” “Boss, he did it by hidin’ a little red-flannel ‘bag undah mah do’step. Dat bag was a hoodoo sack, an’ had in it a mole’s foot, a piece ob lead ore, a knife-blade, a magnet, a petrified twig, some wool off a dead niggah’s haid, a hoss- hair, an’ some lizard-dust. I wouldn’ tech dat sack fo’ a t'ousan’ dollahs, I tell yo", boss, I's a dead niggah ef dat sack ain't moved immejutely.” “ How does it feel, Pete, to be con- jured?" “Lawd, boss! a fellah jes’ ain't no good at nuffin’. I's got a misery in mah back; I can’t kill no rabbits, can't ketch no feesh, can’t ketch no ‘possums, can’t pass when I shoots craps, am always losin’ mah razzah, an’ mah gal has done gone an’ shook me. I jes’ can't do no good at nuf- fi “All right, Pete; I'll remove the hoodoo from under your doorstep."* “T'ank yo’, sah, boss; t'ank yo’, sah, Yo'hab sabed mah life, I'd hab bin a dead niggah befo’ Sunday.” WALTER CHAMP. “Pa, you're a lawyer. HAD THE BEST OF HIM. JaccEns ("shaking hands" with the pump)—"* Pleashed t' meetsh y’, frien’; but I must c’nfesh y’ garr lil’ besht of me, sho’ y’ face sheems f'miliar.” THE RULING PASSION Dk. Boxes—"* Ves, my good man ; you are dying fast.” Bikex—" Hurry, then, and give me my cyclometer. A FIN-DE-SIECLE MAIDEN, Which is cheaper—divorce or bigamy ?” NAMES FOR THE TWINS. $e THEY say that Bagley’s twins are so much alike that he can scarcely tell them apart, except that one is truthful and the other Yes; l understand that he calls one Kate and the other Prevaricate.” A LABOR-SAVER. Mrs. Murphy (about to purchase a dinner - set) — “Oi'm thinkin’ Oi'd ruther a blue set wid a shprig av whoite on ‘em,” Mrs. Grady—No, faith, Oi'd sooner a good brown, moisilf, fer they're not so apt t' show s‘ile.” I'll make a record, or die trying.” THE WINTER BLUEJAY. [LJPON the leattess chestout, ‘Among the flakes of snow, T hear the biuejay singing, With happy dreams aglow, Amid the whirring whirlwinds ‘That etch the window-rime He sings with winter gladness His song of summer.time. His blithe June song he's singing ‘Amid the snowflake whirl, For in his heart he's dreaming About his summer girl fee, MUNKIT TIC THE IMPROVISED MUFF, Mr, Xith on a warm— —and a cold day. comicbooks.com