Judge, 1900-05-12 · page 16 of 16
Judge — May 12, 1900 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This two-panel cartoon satirizes a near-sighted elderly man ("Uncle Green") at a G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic—Civil War veterans' organization) parade. In the top panel, he mistakes a soldier's knapsack for a mailbox and attempts to mail a letter to his mother. The bottom panel shows the "disastrous error's" consequence: the soldier, thinking the old man is a thief trying to steal food rations, violently attacks him. The humor targets both the man's poor eyesight and the soldiers' violent overreaction. The G.A.R. parade context suggests this pokes fun at Civil War veterans' parades as chaotic public events. The joke ultimately ridicules the absurdity of the misunderstanding and the soldier's excessive response to an innocent mistake.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
(It was at a G. A. R, parade that near-sighted Uncle Green mistook a ** vet's” knapsack for a letter-box.) “Wacal, I swow! I do jest want to mail a letter fer mother, an’ so’s I won't fergit it, here she goes.” 2v0o 1-08 MEW voRK Sachert& Winelins te & Pr Co New Yor ba Private Oomran—“ Here, you fresh jay, take that! (Bang) That'll teach you not ter come snoopin’ round honest sojers, tryin’ ter steal their food.” A DISASTROUS ERROR. comicbooks.com