Judge — April 6, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page The top cartoon by Alexander Sass depicts a soldier overwhelmed by a towering pile of consumer goods and advertisements, with the caption: "If a Soldier Took Everything That the Advertisements Claim is Absolutely Necessary." The satire targets aggressive wartime advertising directed at soldiers. The cartoon suggests that commercial advertisers were making exaggerated claims about products being "absolutely necessary," creating an impossible burden if a soldier actually believed and purchased everything promoted to him. The two smaller drawings by Orson Lowell below appear to be supplementary illustrations, though their specific content is unclear from this reproduction. The page satirizes how American businesses exploited soldiers' needs through hyperbolic advertising during what appears to be WWI-era, when military service created captive consumer audiences.