Judge — January 11, 1919 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1920 political cartoon satirizes the 1920 presidential election. The top panels mock various political figures as "poisonous toadstools" and reference a Jacksonian-themed automobile advertisement as absurd campaign fodder. The central figure—a man with a small dog labeled "NEVER AGAIN!"—represents voter exhaustion after what appears to be a contentious election cycle. The bottom panel depicts the 1920 campaign as theatrical stagecraft, with "Protection" and "The People" visible on the stage set, suggesting both major parties employed empty rhetoric about these themes. The cartoon criticizes how political campaigns reduce serious governance to entertainment and hollow promises, with voters fed up by the performance.