Judge — July 5, 1919 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis: "Impossible!" (Judge, July 5, 1919) This cartoon satirizes weight-consciousness among fashionable women. A stylishly dressed woman in a polka-dotted dress checks herself on a scale while her bulldog watches. The caption "Impossible!" suggests she's shocked or denies the scale's reading—likely indicating she weighs more than expected or desired. The satire targets the vanity and body image anxieties of upper-class women in the 1920s, when slim silhouettes were fashionable. The artist (James Montgomery Flagg, a prominent illustrator) mocks both the woman's denial and the era's obsession with weight and appearance. The loyal dog serves as a silent, non-judgmental witness to human vanity, heightening the humor through contrast.