Judge — September 16, 1916 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Cover, September 16, 1916 This cartoon by Albert Hinckle depicts women in fashionable dress with the caption "If There's a Breeze We Get It!" The joke plays on contemporary anxieties about women's evolving hemlines and skirt lengths during the 1910s. As women's fashion modernized with shorter skirts, conservative critics worried about modesty and propriety—particularly regarding exposure during windy conditions. The cartoon satirizes both the fashion trend itself and the public obsession with women's clothing scandals. The women's confident, somewhat mischievous expressions suggest they're aware of and unbothered by the scandal their hemlines create, which itself mocks the era's prudishness. This reflects broader 1910s social tensions between traditional morality and women's increasing social liberation and independence.