A complete issue · 28 pages · 1917
Judge — July 21, 1917
# "Backed by Old Glory" This July 1917 Judge cover depicts a nurse wearing a Red Cross headpiece and veil, positioned before the American flag. The artwork is credited to James Montgomery Flagg, the era's most prominent patriotic illustrator. The caption "Backed by Old Glory" celebrates American nurses, likely referencing those serving in World War I (America entered in April 1917). The image conflates nursing with patriotic duty—the nurse becomes a symbol of American moral strength and humanitarian values supporting the war effort. The composition deliberately frames the nurse as protected by and aligned with national authority. This represents typical 1917 propaganda messaging: presenting war participation as morally righteous and American institutions (medical care, feminine virtue, national pride) as unified in the cause. The satire magazine here appears to be earnestly promoting patriotic sentiment rather than critiquing it.
# Analysis of Judge Magazine, July 21, 1917 This page is primarily **advertising** rather than satirical content. The left side features a full-page ad for Victor Hugo's Complete Romances (6 volumes for $2.00), using Victorian-era marketing language praising Hugo as a literary genius. The right side is a table of contents listing the magazine's articles and illustrations, though the actual cartoons themselves are not visible on this page. The content appears humor-focused, with titles like "The Great Onion Robbery," "The Lucky Varmint," and "Target Practice." The publication date (July 1917) falls during World War I, suggesting some articles may reference contemporary wartime topics, though specific political references cannot be determined from this contents page alone.
# "The Great Onion Robbery" This is a humorous cartoon satirizing street life in a crowded urban neighborhood, likely New York City. The illustration depicts a chaotic scene where an onion has gone missing—marked with an "X" to show where it was last seen—and the entire neighborhood has mobilized in search of it as if it were a major crime. The satire mocks both the sensationalism of contemporary crime reporting and the petty concerns of working-class urban life. By treating a lost onion with the gravity of a serious robbery, the cartoon ridicules how the press and public could become obsessed with trivial matters. The densely packed street scene captures the bustle and comic chaos of tenement life in the Gilded Age.
