Judge, 1900-12-01 · page 16 of 16
Judge — December 1, 1900 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a racist caricature depicting African American characters ("Mrs. Waffles" and "Mr. Waffles") expressing gratitude for two events: the death of their white employer's dog and the employer breaking his gun lock. The "joke" relies on a deeply offensive stereotype—that formerly enslaved or marginalized Black people would be thankful for circumstances that incapacitate their white "master's" ability to harm them. The dialect and names reinforce dehumanizing portrayals common in late 19th/early 20th-century American humor. The "special providence" reference invokes religious language mockingly. This reflects Judge magazine's casual racism, where such caricatures were considered acceptable satire. Modern readers should understand this as evidence of systemic prejudice normalized in mainstream American publications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
.com 7) x ° fo) 2 2 E ie) ° OF MEW YORK. chert & withelns Lito & Pig Co. New York THEY WERE TRULY THANKFUL, Mrs, WAFFLES—"* Honey, we her a lot ter be thankful fer dis Thanksgiving.” Mr. Warries—" Yais, indeedy! ‘Squire Hennery’s dog dies larst week, an’ den de ‘squire broke de lock ob his gun yisterday. It does seem like a special providence.”