Judge — May 6, 1905 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top Cartoon ("A Deduction"):** A dentist charges a patient extra for a tooth extraction—not for the procedure, but because the patient's loud screaming frightened away four other paying customers. The humor relies on the dentist's logic: lost business = higher individual prices. This satirizes both dental practices of the era and the absurdity of "creative" fee-justification. **Bottom Cartoon ("Hard to Beat That Combination"):** Two working-class men (appearing to be African American, using period dialect) discuss borrowing money. One asks to borrow a "rabbit's foot" (a folk luck charm) to help convince "Deacon Hardup" (a generic name suggesting a poor/stingy person) to lend five dollars. The punchline: the Deacon already has a rabbit's foot too, making luck irrelevant—he simply won't lend money. Both cartoons mock superstition and human nature: people seeking irrational solutions to practical problems (overcharging, luck charms) while ignoring actual obstacles (patient fear, creditor stinginess).