Judge, 1901-10-26 · page 5 of 16
Judge — October 26, 1901 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1901 Judge cartoon satirizes the brevity and efficiency of telegraph operators. The joke plays on class distinctions: Mrs. Moneybags (a wealthy woman) questions how her butler John knows a telegraph operator sent her message. John's proof is that the operator managed to convey everything in just ten words—the standard telegram length limit. The satire targets telegraph operators' reputation for conciseness born of necessity (charging by the word), contrasting this with the wealthy's tendency toward verbosity. It's also a gentle jab at Mrs. Moneybags's obliviousness to how telegraphy actually works. The cartoon reflects the telegraph's prominence in early 1900s communication technology.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Pema Qractewy COPYRIGHT, 1901, BY JUDGE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. THE BEST OF PROOF. Mrs. Moneysaccs—' John, how do you know a man telegraph-operator wrote the message / sent by you?" JouN (the butler)—"* Because, mum, 'e managed to say it all In the ten words, mum." comicbooks.com