Judge — July 29, 1911 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Judge magazine cartoon satirizes easy divorce through a commodified, vending-machine aesthetic. A classical female figure stands beside a tall mechanical dispenser labeled "Marriage Certificate" at top, followed by numbered "Divorce" coupons (No. 1-5) that extend downward like a slot machine receipt. The caption "Why Not?" suggests cynical commentary on divorce accessibility—implying it had become as casual and transactional as purchasing goods from a machine. The classical female personification of justice or marriage contrasts sharply with the crude mechanization, highlighting the satire: what should be serious legal/moral matters has been reduced to frivolous consumer transactions. The cartoon likely critiques either recent liberalization of divorce laws or broader anxieties about changing marriage and social standards in early 20th-century America.