Judge — February 14, 1903 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a six-panel comic strip featuring racial caricatures typical of early 20th-century American humor. The narrative involves "Bad Bilkins" (a tar-and-feathered victim) seeking shelter, and "Rastus" (a stereotypical Black character), who boasts about stealing the largest turkey in the state from Farmer Furrow. The "joke" relies on racist stereotypes portraying Black people as chicken/turkey thieves—a harmful trope used to justify discrimination. Panel 5 shows what appears to be a large circular object (possibly a wagon wheel the character has mistaken for a turkey), leading to the punchline about possessing an outsized bird. The satire reflects period attitudes treating petty theft and foolishness as inherent racial characteristics. The dialect spelling and caricatured imagery are consistent with Judge magazine's offensive approach to racial humor during this era.