Judge — April 26, 1902 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a four-panel sequential comic strip depicting a nighttime encounter between two figures (identified as "the girls") and a tramp on a rural road. The humor relies on mutual surprise and mistaken identity. **The Setup**: Two people are crossing fields at night and spot what they fear is a dangerous vagrant. They're clearly frightened. **The Punchline**: The "tramp" is equally shocked, exclaiming "Well, I'll be blowed if one uv dem ain't a man!" — suggesting he mistook both figures for women until discovering one is actually male. **The Satire**: This appears to be satirizing either gender presentation or cross-dressing of the era. The joke's shock value depends on one figure's unexpected masculinity being revealed. **Context for Modern Readers**: This reflects early 1900s attitudes toward gender presentation and the surprise/comedic value of such reveal humor, which would have been considered daring satire in Judge's satirical tradition.