Judge — December 5, 1925 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This political cartoon satirizes labor unions and "flappers"—young women of the 1920s known for their modern, unconventional behavior and fashion. The caption imagines a scenario where the window washers' union hires female flappers for the traditionally male job of high-rise window cleaning. The humor lies in the absurdity: the cartoon depicts women dangerously scaling the exterior of tall buildings with ropes, shown in precarious positions clinging to the facade. The crowded street below suggests spectators gathering to watch this chaos. The satire likely mocks both union protectionism (suggesting they'd resist female workers) and contemporary anxieties about changing gender roles. It plays on stereotypes of flappers as frivolous and unsuited for dangerous labor, while also commenting on workplace segregation and labor disputes of the era.