Judge — August 14, 1920 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Cover, August 14, 1920 This cover features "The Role of the Doldrums" by Ellis Parker Butler. The image depicts a figure in swimming attire and cap holding an oar, styled as "Somewater-Nymph" (visible at bottom left). The title references the "doldrums"—a nautical term for calm, windless waters where ships stall. Given the August 1920 date, this likely satirizes the post-WWI period's economic or political stagnation. The oar-wielding figure suggests futile effort to move forward without progress—commentary on America's sluggish conditions following the war. The aquatic/nautical imagery reinforces the "stuck" metaphor. The satire targets whatever "doldrums" were concerning Americans in mid-1920.