Judge, 1918-02-23 · page 15 of 36
Judge — February 23, 1918 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon imagines what would happen if Germany's Kaiser conquered America. The image depicts the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument on New York's Riverside Drive grotesquely transformed: a giant beer mug replaces the monument's traditional top, with a German flag planted nearby. The text mocks the Kaiser's alleged determination to humiliate American patriotic symbols. The satire suggests that German occupation would desecrate American monuments by replacing them with German cultural icons (here, beer—stereotyping German culture). The cartoon ridicules "Hun" military officers saluting "their native symbol of kultur" through crude, contemptuous language. This is WWI-era propaganda depicting German victory as an existential threat to American identity and values, using grotesque humor to mobilize patriotic sentiment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Kaiser Conquered America—No. 4 © rises eorwes into the Kaiser’s clutches, probably would begin with this kind of vizualized humiliation. Here is a Teutonic remodelling of the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument on Riverside Drive, New York. Can’t you sce, in fancy, the greasy grin of a Hun subaltern as he clicks his heels together and halts to salute his native symbol of kultur—a sculptured glasserwurtzburgerbieryetalretty? Preiss determination to crush American pride in our patriotic memorials, should we, by any chance, fall