Judge — July 7, 1923 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Another Shell Game" - Judge Magazine, July 7, 1923 This cartoon satirizes political deception through the metaphor of a shell game—a con artist's trick where a hidden object moves between shells, fooling observers about its location. The illustration shows a woman (representing the public or a political constituency) attempting to follow a shell game operated by a man. The caption "ANOTHER SHELL GAME" suggests politicians are deceiving the public through misdirection and false promises. Without identifying the specific political figures depicted, the satire critiques what the magazine's editors viewed as political sleight-of-hand—politicians making promises or shifting positions to confuse or manipulate voters. This was a common Judge theme during the 1920s, when postwar disillusionment made Americans skeptical of political rhetoric.