Judge — July 9, 1904 — page 22: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1904 page titled "Zim's Midsummer-Night's ('Pipe') Dream" presents multiple satirical vignettes mocking workplace fantasies and social stereotypes of the era. The cartoons depict: 1. **"Lazy coon"** — A racist caricature presenting an African American couple's fantasy of leisure, intended as satirical commentary on perceived idleness. 2. **"Lady coon"** — Similar stereotyping, suggesting the fantasy involves role-reversal where the woman stops working. 3. **"Employer to office-boy"** — An ironic fantasy where an employer grants afternoon closures during baseball season and raises wages by the exact cost of admission, mocking both employer generosity and worker aspirations. The overarching satire appears to mock various groups' unrealistic daydreams: working-class fantasies of leisure, and employers' fantasy of benevolent paternalism toward employees. The page reflects early 1900s Judge magazine's typical reliance on ethnic/racial caricature as humor while satirizing social hierarchies and economic realities.