A complete issue · 16 pages · 1886
Judge — January 30, 1886
# "Bill" the Bartender This cartoon satirizes a bartender's ability to create mixed drinks with questionable ingredients. The figure behind the bar, labeled "Bill the Bartender," holds up a bottle marked "SILVER" while displaying various liquor bottles on shelves behind him. A sign reads "Mixed Drinks My Specialty" and another asks "Silver Question." The satire appears to reference debates about monetary policy, specifically the "Silver Question"—the late-19th-century controversy over whether the U.S. should base currency on silver or gold. By depicting a bartender mixing drinks with silver, the cartoon jokes that politicians were "mixing" or adulterating currency policy just as a bartender might adulterate drinks. The caption "What is he going to give us?" suggests skepticism about the outcome of such monetary experimentation.
# Political Satire from Judge Magazine The main cartoon depicts a disheveled figure labeled "JUDCK" (the magazine's mascot), appearing distressed or agitated. The accompanying articles discuss several contemporary political controversies: presidential appointments and Senate discretion; William (likely Secretary of State) and the silver question; and criticisms of youth exposure to Democratic "tobogganing" (political maneuvering). One piece satirizes what it calls inappropriate political posturing by children, while another addresses Utah polygamy abolition efforts and government intervention in religious practice. A final article titled "The Right to Steal Horses" references horse theft in Arizona and clergy involvement in questionable activities. The exact historical moment is unclear without dating information, but these pieces reflect 1890s-era debates about executive power, monetary policy, religious practice, and government authority.
