Judge — October 15, 1904 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top Cartoon: "Wanted to Know the Real Reason"** This depicts African American laborers in dialect-heavy conversation. Mr. Jackson questions Mr. Johnson's work motivation, dismissing "money" as merely material, and instead suggests the *real* reason is that Johnson's wife is too ill to do laundry. The joke relies on racist stereotypes: it assumes Black workers are primarily driven by domestic necessity rather than genuine employment, and mocks their speech patterns through exaggerated dialect spelling. **Bottom Cartoon: "Poor Pat!"** A doctor prescribes pepsin tablets for an Irish patient ("Pat," indicated by the dialect "Phwere" and "Ol"). Pat's punchline—that he cannot afford *meals* to take with the tablets (which must be taken after eating)—satirizes poverty among Irish immigrants. The humor comes from the absurdity of medical advice to someone too poor to afford regular meals. Both cartoons use ethnic caricature and dialect to mock marginalized groups' economic circumstances.