Judge — September 23, 1916 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes wartime or post-war profiteering. A vendor sells "Home Made Candies" from a street stand while a child and adult window-shop. The caption's "tempted one" refers to the vendor, suggesting they're tempted to cheat customers. The joke criticizes price inflation: the vendor charges twenty cents for candies that contain nearly as much kerosene (cheap filler) as kerosene that costs nineteen cents—implying the candies are mostly worthless adulterant, sold at inflated prices. The cartoon mocks merchants who exploit consumers through adulteration and overpricing, likely during a period of supply scarcity when such practices were common. It's social commentary on commercial dishonesty masked as humor.