Judge — January 10, 1920 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine, January 19, 1920 This illustration satirizes shoe shopping and poor customer service. The cartoon shows a shoe salesman asking a female customer "How does that feel?" after fitting her with what appears to be an uncomfortably tight shoe. Her deadpan response—"Try a size smaller. I can bear a lot more pain than that"—is the joke's punchline. The satire targets the shoe salesman's indifference to customer comfort and perhaps broader commentary on 1920s retail practices or gender dynamics. The woman's sarcastic willingness to endure pain suggests resignation to poor service or, possibly, satirizes contemporary attitudes about women's fashion and the physical discomfort they accepted for style. The cartoon's humor relies on the absurdity of recommending a *smaller* shoe to someone already in pain.