Judge — January 6, 1917 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes common automobile mishaps and the diverse characters who encounter them. The central panel shows a car being driven slowly, with various vignettes depicting typical garage and roadside incidents: a man complaining about a dent in his fender, someone attempting to fix a mechanical issue, a chauffeur working on the vehicle, and others dealing with flat tires and repairs. The satire targets the universal frustrations of early automobile ownership—breakdowns, damage, and the need for repairs—affecting drivers across social classes, from wealthy owners to working-class mechanics. The title "In Everyman's Garage" emphasizes that car troubles are democratic: everyone experiences them. The humor derives from the relatable, everyday nature of these automotive problems in an era when automobiles were still relatively new and unreliable.