Judge, 1900-09-01 · page 16 of 16
Judge — September 1, 1900 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**"Watered Stock"** (top): This cartoon satirizes financial fraud. Two men discuss investing in "the ice trust" (a monopoly controlling ice distribution). Costigan warns against it because the stock is "watered"—a common practice where companies inflated share value with worthless securities. The joke plays on the literal meaning: ice mixed with water. This reflects Progressive-Era anxieties about corporate deception and monopolistic trusts that dominated American business. **"What Worried Her"** (bottom): Mrs. Hoolihan reads about scientists studying sunspots while dismissing the concern. She's more worried about her daughter's freckles—a beauty flaw considered serious in this era. The satire mocks superficial Victorian concerns about female appearance versus scientific advancement. Both cartoons use Irish-dialect characters (Costigan, Hoolihan names and speech patterns), reflecting how ethnic humor was standard in early-1900s American comics.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WATERED STOCK. Costioan—“Av Oi had a boonch of money OF'd never pat any of it in the fee trast.” BystanpEr—‘* Why CosTigAN—-” Bekase there's too much water in the stock.” COPYRIGHT 1900 BY JUDGE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. Sackett A WidelasLitho & Pig Co Hew York WHAT WORRIED HER. Mn, Hootttan (reading) —" Scientists are worrying about the ‘ spots on the su Mus. -Hoouiman—" Bad luck to the ‘spots on the son"! It's the * freckles on yare darter” thot ought to be looked after.” Na comicbooks.com