Judge — July 18, 1903 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the 1904 presidential election. Uncle Sam, the personification of America, stands at an "Ostacus Marinus Market" (a play on political merchandise). He holds a basket labeled "For the White House 1904," expressing dismay that he has "nothing but these dead ones to offer you." The various animal and caricatured figures surrounding him—labeled with names like "Democracy," "Trap," "Fraud," and "Monopoly"—represent either political figures or corrupt forces the cartoonist views as morally or politically defunct. The satire criticizes the available presidential candidates or the state of American politics as offering no genuinely viable or honest alternatives for the upcoming election.