A complete issue · 28 pages · 1916
Judge — May 27, 1916
# Analysis of Judge Magazine, May 27, 1916 This cartoon depicts a squirrel confronting a large artillery shell, with the caption "If That's a Shell, I'm a Nut!" **Context:** Published in 1916, during World War I, this is a visual pun playing on double meaning. The squirrel—a nut-gatherer—makes a joke equating the military shell to its natural food. The cartoon likely comments on the massive scale and destructiveness of modern warfare, using the squirrel's bewilderment to express American civilian shock or skepticism about the enormous weapons being deployed in the European conflict. The satire suggests either amazement at military technology or, possibly, skepticism about war claims circulating at the time. The juxtaposition of small animal to weaponry emphasizes the absurd gulf between civilian life and industrial-scale warfare.
# "Every Now and Then" - Analysis This appears to be a pro-advertising editorial essay from *Judge* magazine, not a cartoon. The piece argues that skeptics of advertising are mistaken about its economic value. The author contends that advertising: - Enables mass distribution, making goods cheaper - Spreads information about factory innovations - Reduces costs through competition - Improves living standards by creating desire for better products The "man who doesn't believe in advertising" is a rhetorical figure representing common skepticism. The author dismisses this skeptic as illogical—comparing him to someone who "doesn't believe in telephones." The text emphasizes advertising as a fundamental economic force of the modern century, alongside steam and electricity, essential for industrial progress and consumer welfare.
# "On Upper Fifth Avenue" This illustration by Robert Ball depicts a street scene on Manhattan's prestigious Fifth Avenue. The cartoon caption presents a brief domestic dialogue: "Stella" asks whether "Flora's and Jack's marriage was a love-match," to which "Reginald" responds skeptically that it must have been—"they'd only known each other a month or so." The satire targets wealthy New York society's hasty marriages among the upper classes. The joke implies that among the affluent, marrying someone after minimal acquaintance was commonplace enough to be unremarkable. The detailed architectural sketch of elegant buildings and well-dressed pedestrians establishes the setting as a place where such frivolous romantic decisions among the privileged would be entirely expected and unsurprising.
