Judge — June 1, 1901 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top cartoon ("On the Safe Side"):** Two Irish-coded characters discuss transatlantic telephone technology. The joke satirizes Irish-American immigrants' antagonism toward British authority. One character expresses eagerness to insult the King of England via telephone once the technology enables it—treating the new invention as an opportunity for safe, long-distance insubordination. The humor relies on ethnic stereotypes of Irish anti-British sentiment and the novelty of telephone technology circa 1901. **Bottom cartoon ("How It Happened"):** A poorly dressed man ("Lazy Bow") describes obtaining ten cents from a wealthy lady to fire her cook—but pockets the money instead. The joke plays on class dynamics and working-poor dishonesty: he accepted payment for a task he claims to have completed but clearly didn't. Both cartoons use caricature and dialect to reinforce period stereotypes about immigrants and the working poor.