Judge — August 3, 1901 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This two-panel comic depicts a rural scene where children are stealing apples from what appears to be an orchard or farm. **Top panel:** An adult (likely a farmer or orchard owner) shouts "Hand back every one of them air apples!" suggesting the children have taken fruit. **Bottom panel:** Labeled "Right, old hayseed! TAKE THEM," shows the children apparently defying authority—returning or throwing the apples back at the adult. The satire mocks rural/rustic authority figures ("hayseed" being period slang for unsophisticated farmers) and depicts the humorous conflict between property owners and mischievous children. The joke relies on the assumption that children stealing apples was common enough to be instantly recognizable to Judge's urban, educated readership as fodder for gentle ridicule of rural life and working-class conflicts.