Judge — August 8, 1931 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Judge cartoon presents a visual pun on the phrase "cutting capers"—a idiom meaning to act playfully or mischievously. The illustration literally depicts people *cutting capers* (the plant used to make caper sauce, a condiment). The satire plays on the double meaning: various figures throughout a pastoral landscape are shown harvesting, preparing, and processing caper plants using exaggerated, comedic physical actions—chopping, carrying, cooking—as if engaged in an absurdly elaborate "occupation." The joke's appeal lies in the unexpected literalization of familiar language and the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that such a mundane agricultural task deserves recognition as a distinct, noteworthy profession. It's characteristic of early-20th-century magazine humor that relied on wordplay and visual puns.