Judge — March 20, 1909 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1909 Judge magazine cover satirizes **free-trade policy** through a skull optical illusion. The cartoon plays on perspective: viewed from a distance, the image shows a skull; up close (as the note instructs), it depicts a figure labeled "Andy" operating bellows or pumps amid bottles, likely representing industrial/economic activity. The satire targets someone nicknamed "Free-Trade Andy"—probably a political figure advocating free trade. The skull imagery suggests the cartoonist considers free-trade policy **deadly or destructive** to American interests, while the dual perspective mocks how proponents and critics see the same policy completely differently. This reflects the era's fierce trade-policy debates.