Judge — April 5, 1924 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains two separate cartoons satirizing early 20th-century American life: **Top cartoon** ("Mah Jongg in the Stone Age"): Mocks the recent craze for mah-jongg, a Chinese tile game that became wildly popular in the 1920s. The joke compares players huddled over the game to primitive stone-age humans, suggesting the obsession is intellectually regressive. The "PUNG!" exclamation references mah-jongg terminology. **Bottom cartoon**: A domestic humor piece about a woman named Betty who broke an engagement with a dancing teacher. The joke centers on her having prepaid for dance lessons she no longer needs—highlighting her practical, no-nonsense approach despite the romantic breakup. The man's exaggerated dance pose suggests the absurdity of the situation. Both reflect 1920s social anxieties about fads and changing gender dynamics.