Judge — September 3, 1921 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis This cartoon by Edna H. Dittler satirizes drug store visits during an era (likely early 20th century) when drugstores functioned as general merchants selling sundries beyond pharmaceuticals. The joke centers on a woman's desperate need for a postage stamp, not medicine. A policeman, encountering her distressed appearance outside a "Drugs and Prescription" storefront, assumes illness. Her response—that she "simply must have a postage stamp"—plays on the absurdity of treating a minor errand as a medical emergency requiring a pharmacy visit. The satire mocks both the woman's dramatic demeanor over a trivial item and the drugstore's role as a catch-all merchant for everyday supplies, making the distinction between "pharmacy" and "general store" humorously blurred.