Judge — June 15, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Posteritis: "Is it a Pastime or a Disease?" This satirical page by H.C. Greening mocks an apparent early 20th-century obsession with poster collecting and display. The cartoons depict the craze as compulsive behavior: a sickbed patient surrounded by posters, outdoor campers covered in poster advertisements, people spending rent money on posters instead of necessities, and a burglar stealing posters rather than valuables. The satire suggests poster collecting had become an excessive cultural phenomenon—people were so enamored with decorative posters (likely advertising and artistic prints that were popular at the time) that it consumed their finances and attention. The title's question—whether this is a hobby or illness—implies the collecting habit had reached pathological proportions among the general public.