Judge — October 27, 1917 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical cartoon depicting a chaotic street scene imagining what would happen if biblical miracles became modern commercial products. The cartoon mocks both contemporary advertising and religious faith through exaggeration. Visible "miracle" vendors include: a blood tonic extracted from granite, a corset business, a "no-ticket" restaurant, a shark being sold as a miraculous catch, water-to-milk conversion (referencing the biblical miracle at Cana), and various other impossible or fraudulent products. The satire targets: - **Patent medicine fraud** (common in this era) - **False advertising claims** - **Consumer gullibility** - The notion that miraculous thinking pervades everyday commerce The packed, chaotic street scene suggests how absurd yet believable these miraculous claims seem to gullible crowds—satirizing both religious credulity and the snake-oil salesman culture of early 20th-century America.