Judge, 1908-06-13 · page 14 of 16
Judge — June 13, 1908 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes patent medicine advertising, specifically "Bedloe's Little Bilious Bullets," a fictional remedy. The main cartoon shows a traveling pill agent visiting a frontier woman (Mrs. Arabella P. Yocum) to solicit a testimonial endorsing the product. The joke: The agent attempts flattery, claiming she was once a "pitiable object" ravaged by disease until the pills "cured" her. The woman responds by retrieving a Winchester rifle and demanding fifteen dollars—threatening the agent into paying for her false endorsement. The satire targets the exploitative testimonial industry: patent medicine companies routinely fabricated or coerced "cures" from rural, desperate customers to market bogus treatments. By showing the woman literally *extorting* payment for her false testimony, Judge mocks both the fraud itself and the absurdity of these obviously fabricated claims. The implication is that such testimonials are worthless—obtained through deception or coercion rather than genuine results.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HER TESTIMONIAL. HE was tall, bony and evidently strong, for as the pill agent S came up to the door she was in the last stages of heaving a half-grown Newfoundland dog out of the rear window. The agent coughed slightly as he witnessed this feat of arms, and t passed the remark that it was a fine day, although it looked like a ' frost was due. ‘ “Yer right, stranger—hain't disputin’ you thar, nohow,"’ said ‘ the woman, as she wiped the dog-hair off her hands and approached the door. f The agent tilted his hat back with a professional gesture and = placed his elbow familiarly against the jamb of the doorway. 1 “*Madam,"' he said, in a far-away voi the last time I had ‘ the pleasure of looking upon your form, now glowing with health and the strength of man—er— of womanhood, you were a pitiable j object. Racked by disease, miserable from pain, and help! ° incurable maladies, you spent a melanckoly exi b gaunt, hollow " a “What're you talkin’ about, stranger?" broke in the woman, as ehe elevated her shoulders slightly and squinted at him in a danger- ° A HARD MILKER. ous manner. boarder—* How much milk dows that cow “This, I believe, is Mra. Arabella P. Yocum?" inquired the The milker—* She dow't grve n What yer agent easily. inter la My dapsaderaiacanag © Delightful? ster Agent, the minute I clapped eye on | is rting that Bedloe’s Little Bilious Bullets nerv ul testimonial ar cont. Be you “Am L right in cured you of weak 2 Your picture Hol’ on, tim self, says I, * Arabell "8 go trouble with th on, shore as you're born an’ b Th’ time has come—it is here—an? [reckon m: Yocum is goin’ to know if this Bedloe man is th insomnia and night 5 18 pros piliar that sold n Bedbuye jesta me th * What do you mean, madam 1 the agent ious Bullet The woman reached in behind the stove and withdrew a large, 7 Hf so, T want shiny Winchester and began slipping big, brass cartridges into its th Is with you insides. ‘Then she chucked it shut a time or two and pushed up her arnin’ the an lam: you got fifteen dollars in money on you, agent?" she lo ure, 1 admit,” onthe table te moa pended: the yeent looked sheepish a moment, then slipped three fives to ¢ it agents the position mentioned, | An may ue ** Good y + th’ Liter: HA y lixght what ed- ited up them thar testimonials what Soma teens - has been runnin’ RESENTED THE IMPLICATION. | THE PRIALS OF YOUTH in our paper every Judge Fennel heard that your brother was cast upon strange Young heron—* Come on, kia k osenet. Be wat * Lait a Lb ter serateh uh ° “Sub, all waters are stra him.” mid aa tarenee “Why, 1 that is, perhaps’ by the collar and cor Then she slammed spe him log, and pulled out a the bunch of newspa rat hand, a I've got "it’s burnin’, but I've “ got time enough for 3 aud that, Read it srood an? ‘ loud, an’ don’t mis: Oa The wl focused: the om spot indicated by her long, red foretinge 1 hie loosened his collar and began weakly, but with a gradual sain in Dei power. ‘Before taking Bedloe's Little Bilious Bullets was a physical wri My liver was worn to shreds, my kid- neys w and my groaning drove my husband to drink, art was so weak that a fly lighting: on me sent me into convulsions, My oldest son left home and was jailed for hy I began using the bul- lets, At this period I was a living ske : doctor said there was no hope forme, My daughter then el with a negro bartender, But Bedloe’s Bullets the dark clouds. After using only two er them my daughter sot adivorce, my sun broke jail, my husband signed | the pledge and Twas cured, ‘To-lay Lean run faster, jump higher, kick harder and yell louder than any man in Pike County. Arabella P. Yocum,” ent finished reading, and laid down the paper. 4 ped the woman fiercely i “ Well, that this is the strongest testimonial Lever saw PLEASANT KIND OF COOLNESS ree f It is delightful to read Although there was a coolness between them, her face wore a beatific expression. issu comicbooks.com