Judge, 1911-12-30 · page 1 of 25
Judge — December 30, 1911 — page 1: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Leap Year" - Judge Magazine, December 30, 1911 This is a "Leap Year" issue cover featuring a woman in formal attire (tuxedo jacket, white shirt and pants) actively chasing butterflies with a net while appearing to pursue or "chase" a man who is fleeing or lying down beneath her. The satire references the tradition of Leap Year (occurring every four years), when social convention supposedly allowed women to reverse gender roles and pursue men romantically. The image humorously exaggerates this concept—depicting an aggressive, dominant woman in masculine formal dress actively hunting both butterflies and a male figure. The joke plays on early-20th-century anxieties about changing gender roles and women's increasing social independence, presenting the Leap Year custom as a comedic inversion of "proper" courtship dynamics.