Judge — September 13, 1913 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Exceeding the Speed Limit" This Judge magazine cover (September 1914) satirizes reckless driving through a striking silhouette composition. A well-dressed man in a suit drives an automobile at dangerous speed while a fashionably-dressed woman passenger appears alarmed, her hat and scarf flying dramatically in the wind. The large profile silhouette of what appears to be an angry or stern face looms behind them—likely representing the law or authority figure they're violating. The satire targets the emerging problem of automobile speeding in early 20th-century America, when speed limits were new and motorists frequently ignored them. The cartoon suggests that wealthy, fashionable people treated traffic laws cavalierly, endangering themselves and others. The exaggerated silhouette technique emphasizes both the velocity and the moral judgment inherent in lawbreaking.