Judge — December 10, 1921 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Cartoon This cartoon by Edna Deitzel satirizes alimony payments through a domestic scene. The dialogue reveals the joke: when asked if she receives her alimony promptly, a woman named Winifred responds that her husband Dick "pays his wives alphabetically." The humor targets men who maintain multiple ex-wives and dodge full alimony obligations by paying them in rotating order—presumably leaving some wives waiting extended periods. This reflects early 20th-century concerns about divorce's financial consequences and men's potential irresponsibility toward former spouses. The fashionable interior setting emphasizes these are women of means, making the joke about incomplete payments more pointed. The satire critiques both the loopholes husbands exploited and the precarious financial position of divorced women despite their social status.