A complete, restored issue of Judge from 1887-03-05 — all 16 pages of color political cartoons and topical humor, free to page through at comicbooks.com.

On the cover: # Political Cartoon Analysis: "Judge" Magazine, March 5, 1887 This cartoon satirizes the 49th Congress breaking up after its session ended. The image shows caricatured politicians depicted as figures in a boat on water, seemingly taking the "surplus" (government budget surplus) with them as they depart. The cartoon criticizes Congress members for allegedly benefiting personally from public funds rather than using the surplus for the nation's benefit. The exaggerated, grotesque caricatures and the water setting suggest the politicians are abandoning ship or fleeing with ill-gotten gains. The specific identities of individual figures are unclear from the image alone, but the satire targets the broader practice of political corruption and misappropriation of federal resources during the Gilded Age—a period notorious for such congressional abuses.

🖼️ Every page has a plain-English note on what you’re looking at — the figures, the references, the point of the satire.

← Back to Judge: The Rival in Color All exhibitions