Judge — July 24, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top cartoon ("Out of Repair"):** A city health inspector visits a farm, finding a cow unable to produce milk. The farmer blames broken faucets and plumbing rather than the cow itself—satirizing how people deflect responsibility by blaming circumstances instead of acknowledging real problems. **Bottom cartoon ("Watching and Waiting"):** A street vendor with unripe tomatoes hagggles with Mrs. Dolan, a housewife. She hesitates to buy because the tomatoes aren't ready to eat; he sarcastically suggests they'll ripen by the time she finally makes a purchase decision—mocking indecisive consumers and implying vendors exploit customer hesitation. Both cartoons use Irish-American characters (suggested by names and dialect) to humorously critique everyday urban and working-class life in early 20th-century America.