Judge — December 6, 1930 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine Cartoon Analysis This is a satirical cartoon titled "The Independent Research Association: Determine how many sheep produce sleep." The artist is Forbell. The cartoon depicts a courtroom scene where various figures (appearing as caricatured men in suits) are conducting an absurd "research" experiment. Men in the foreground are bent over on all fours, apparently acting as "sheep" while being studied by suited observers above them. The joke plays on the common expression that "counting sheep" helps produce sleep—by literalizing it as an actual research question requiring formal investigation and a courtroom setting. The satire appears to mock pseudo-scientific organizations and their ridiculous pursuits, suggesting that the "Independent Research Association" engages in frivolous, nonsensical studies dressed up in official-sounding language and formal proceedings.