Judge — November 2, 1929 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine, November 2, 1929 This cartoon addresses the **Lenz Bridge Contest**, a contemporary engineering competition. The crude caricatures—with exaggerated features typical of 1920s satire—appear to represent competing bridge design proposals being presented as solutions. The title "**Scotch and Soda**" suggests the designs are insubstantial or mixed-quality remedies, using a period slang reference to diluted drinks. The imagery of the figures "blowing smoke" (literally depicted) implies the proposals are hot air rather than serious engineering solutions. Published just days after the **1929 stock market crash**, this likely comments on inadequate responses to broader crises. The contest itself appears to have generated public debate about infrastructure solutions during economically turbulent times.