Judge — August 7, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Hard Times Ahead: Prohibition-Era Satire This Judge cartoon satirizes Prohibition enforcement during the 1920s-30s. It references Congressman Emanuel Celler's legal argument that frozen alcohol isn't technically a "liquid," so possession might not violate the Volstead Act (the law enforcing Prohibition). The cartoon mocks this loophole by depicting creative workarounds: an ice wagon selling frozen martinis, home refrigerators enabling illegal drinking, and rum-runners transporting contraband. The "fearless Eskimo rum-runner" heading south with icebergs suggests alcohol smuggling has become absurdly normalized. The joke warns of "hard times ahead"—showing how Prohibition's unintended consequence was spurring ingenious criminal enterprise rather than eliminating drinking. The cartoon implies the law is so poorly conceived that citizens and lawmakers alike recognize its futility, making enforcement nearly impossible.