Judge — November 21, 1903 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1903 satirical page contains two cartoons mocking Irish immigrants through ethnic stereotypes common to the era. **"Ding! Ding!"** depicts a police station scene where an officer (Kelly, identified by dialect) charges a man with "gasoline"—he "smells like an automobile." The joke plays on the novelty of automobiles and suggests Irish immigrants are unfamiliar with this new technology, mistaking gasoline smell for criminal behavior. **"Surprise"** shows two Irish characters (Mize and Pat, identified by names and accents) discussing a funeral. Pat missed Casey's funeral, which featured "a swell Dootch band" and forty-seven carriages. Pat regrets missing it because Casey left him money in insurance—the dark humor suggests attending funerals of the wealthy was economically advantageous. Both cartoons use exaggerated Irish dialect and caricature to ridicule Irish-American working-class culture, a common editorial approach in early 1900s American humor magazines.