Judge, 1901-12-28 · page 27 of 49
Judge — December 28, 1901 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes religious hypocrisy and conversion fraud. A Black preacher (Parson Johnson, drawn in period dialect) addresses his congregation about a recent "convert" who claimed spiritual transformation at a revival meeting. The supposed convert actually stole the church chandelier that same night, pawned it at "Slopinsky's" (a Jewish pawnbroker, reflecting period ethnic stereotypes), and has been living it up on the proceeds. The satire's target is twofold: fraudulent religious conversions that lack genuine moral change, and the irony that the preacher now must ask for money ("contributions") rather than genuine spiritual commitment. The cartoon reflects Judge's skepticism toward revival meetings and suggests that conversion claims were sometimes opportunistic rather than sincere. The ethnic caricatures reflect 1901 prejudices standard to the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
COPYRIGHT, 1901 BY JUDGE COMPANY OF NEW YORK. HE SAW THE LIGHT. Parson Jonson —" Bredren an’ sisters. it pains me to inform you dat de pusson who got converted at our las’ meetin’, who loudly proclaimed dat he had at last saw de light—it pains me to inform you dat he cum back de nex’ night an’ stole de chandelier an’ converted it into cash at Slo- pinsky’s pawn-thop, an’ has bin seein’ de sights eber since. I will respec’fully call upon you to-night fer contributions, an’ not conversions.”” comicbooks.com