Judge — January 9, 1932 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Judge Magazine Cartoon Analysis (January 9, 1932) This cartoon depicts a frozen building labeled "W.C.T.U." (Women's Christian Temperance Union) during winter, with icicles covering its structure. Several caricatured figures appear distressed or trapped outside in the cold. The satire references Prohibition's failure and the WCTU's role in advocating for it. By January 1932—near Prohibition's end (repealed December 1933)—the cartoon mocks the temperance movement as frozen, obsolete, and ineffective. The distressed figures likely represent temperance advocates confronting the reality that their decades-long crusade has collapsed amid the Great Depression and widespread public opposition. The harsh winter imagery symbolizes the WCTU's declining influence and relevance in American society.