Judge, 1899-06-17 · page 8 of 16
Judge — June 17, 1899 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical attack on William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic politician famous for championing "free silver" during the 1890s. The cartoon depicts Bryan as a charlatan doctor hawking "Silver Pills" to cure America's economic "fall feeling" and troubles. The imagery shows a donkey (traditional symbol for Democrats) as the gullible patient, while skeletal figures in the background represent the devastating economic consequences Bryan's silver policies would supposedly cause. Treasury bonds and gold bonds are scattered about, emphasizing the financial disaster the cartoonist warns against. The satire mocks Bryan's "free silver" platform as snake-oil medicine—false promises of economic relief that would actually harm the nation's financial stability. Judge magazine, being Republican-leaning, frequently attacked Bryan's monetary proposals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
COPRONT 1899 BY JUDGE COMPAKY OF NEW YORK. A “TESTIMONIAL TO: DRB My neax Doctor Wriutam Jexnmnos Bryan—Before taking your ‘Silver Pills I had that “fall feeling” and was greatly troubled with many cares comicbooks.com