Judge — August 9, 1919

# Chesterfield Cigarettes Advertisement This is a **cigarette advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. It features a man in casual 1920s-30s attire (cap, white shirt, suspenders) holding a tennis racket, with the tagline "Satisfy—I'll say so." The ad claims Chesterfield cigarettes offer superior enjoyment through a secret blend of Turkish and domestic tobaccos that "go straight to your smoke-spot—they satisfy." It emphasizes the brand's moisture-proof packaging. This represents **pre-regulation tobacco marketing**, when cigarette companies could make health-related claims and target consumers without warning labels. Modern readers should note this advertisement predates any understanding of smoking's health dangers and reflects historical advertising practices now prohibited in most countries.

# "Buddies" - Judge Magazine, August 9, 1919 This cartoon by Angus MacDonald depicts two young children sleeping together in a chair, titled "Buddies." Given the 1919 publication date (shortly after World War I's November 1918 armistice), this likely represents American and British soldiers as the "buddies" who fought together in the war. The intimate, peaceful sleep suggests the bond formed between Allied forces during combat. The satire probably comments on post-war solidarity between the nations, or possibly critiques how quickly wartime camaraderie might fade during the subsequent peace negotiations and economic competition. The title's simplicity contrasts with any deeper political meaning about international relations in this uncertain post-war period.

# "The Feminine Angle" This cartoon satirizes early 20th-century debates about women's comportment and fashion. The left panel shows a woman sitting with proper posture while reading, labeled "The First Mate." The right panel shows the same woman sitting with legs crossed or sprawled, described as adopting a "rakish angle." The accompanying text mocks the "First Mate" (likely her husband) for complaining that his wife's casual sitting position makes her "look like a pirate" and is difficult to correct. The cartoon appears to critique both rigid masculine expectations about female decorum and the growing informality of women's public behavior—satirizing how minor changes in women's deportment could provoke exaggerated masculine concern about propriety and respectability.

# Analysis This page introduces a serial fiction titled "Ain't Angie Awful!" by Gelert Burgess, illustrated by Rea Irvin. The top cartoon shows a domestic scene where a man confronts a woman in a bathroom, with the caption "A Red Light Flaked in His Eyes. 'Then I'll Take You!'" The story concerns Angela Bish, a working-class woman employed at a five-and-dime store. The narrative describes her as plain-looking and somewhat manipulative, having struck out potential suitors and avoided romantic attention. The satire appears to target female independence and romantic scheming in the working class. Angela is portrayed as calculating and somewhat pathetic—she has few genuine womanly qualities and deliberately sabotages relationships. The serial suggests Judge's skepticism toward lower-class women's autonomy and romantic aspirations.

# Analysis This page from *Judge* magazine contains a serialized story about a character named Angela Bish, accompanied by an illustration. The narrative describes Angela as a working-class woman—poor, independent, and unconventional for her era (she smokes cigars, wears red earrings, and frequents six-cent stores). The illustration, captioned "Why Have You Brought Me Here?", depicts a well-dressed man with a cigar confronting a woman in a working-class setting, likely meant to satirize class differences and social pretension. The story text emphasizes Angela's freedom and her attraction to a mysterious gentleman. The content appears to be satirical social commentary on working-class femininity and urban life, typical of *Judge*'s satirical approach to American society and manners of the period.

# Political Satire Analysis: Judge Magazine Page This page satirizes **American consumer culture and morality** through a serialized melodrama about "Angela," a working-class woman seduced by promises of romance. The story mocks both sentimental fiction and commercialism: her "hero" is literally a tobacco-ash manufacturer who abandons her for a counterfeit six-cent coin held by "Mr. Burleson T. Woodrow"—likely a reference to **Postmaster General Albert Burleson** (1913-1921), known for censoring publications. The satire critiques how easily working women are exploited and discarded by business interests. Angela's dramatic "fall" parodies melodramatic serials popular with female readers, while the counterfeit coin represents how capitalist schemes cheat consumers. The bottom panel "Tick-Tax" mocks **Senator Spug's** legislative language—likely satirizing actual political figures' verbose or poorly-written bills. The overall tone suggests Judge's skepticism toward both sentimental romance narratives and commercial exploitation of vulnerable workers.

# Analysis: "Much or Nothing—What Is It?" This satirical essay by Harry Irving Suesway critiques unrealistic wealth portrayals in fiction. The author argues that fictional wealthy characters casually demonstrate millions in assets (smoking cheap pipes despite earning millions yearly), while poor heroines obsess over pennies, contemplating suicide before conveniently being "rescued" into movie stardom at $10,000/week. The accompanying cartoons illustrate these absurdities: the top sketch shows a rural scene mocking naive poverty; the lower cartoon "Bone Dry Adage" depicts an old maid and man in a car, likely satirizing Prohibition-era hypocrisy about drinking. The essay's real target is authorial laziness—writers fail to portray wealth authentically, instead using caricatured gestures (briar pipes, vague millions) that ring false to ordinary readers. The Harvard football player millionaire and pure-but-poor girl represent tired literary tropes the author mocks as unconvincing wish-fulfillment fantasy.

# Explanation for Modern Readers This Judge magazine page contains three separate satirical pieces: **"Making Poker Safe for Democracy"** (top): A political cartoon depicting four men—likely representing political leaders or "first ladies of the land" as the caption suggests—playing cards. The satire appears to mock government attempts to regulate or control activities under the guise of democratic safety. **"Safety First"** (left): A rural humor piece about a poor man hiding near his neighbor's property. The satire targets both rural poverty and domestic disputes, suggesting the man prefers to avoid his wife's anger over broken eggs rather than face her directly. **"Well-Spoken, Suzanne!"** (right): A story about French sailors celebrating a peace treaty in Boston, where a bar owner enthusiastically toasts "Bevo!"—a non-alcoholic beer. The joke appears to mock Prohibition-era substitutes for real alcohol, contrasting French wine culture with American temperance products. **"The Real Trouble"** (bottom): A dialogue mocking wealthy industrialists who complain that workers earn "too much" and spend it on cars and pianos—critiquing capitalist hypocrisy about labor wages.

# "Westward the Star of Empire" This political cartoon by Elinson Hoover satirizes American isolationism and interventionism debates following World War I. The central star represents "America First," surrounded by five points labeled Monroe Doctrine, Protection, Lower Cost Living, Reduced Taxes, and Tariffs. The surrounding vignettes mock the consequences: a bloated German militarist, starving Allied nations and Russia, the League of Nations being kicked away, and an old fisherman ("sucker") hooked by American isolationist policy. The cartoon argues that America's self-interested focus on domestic prosperity and trade protection comes at the expense of international stability, feeding future conflicts. It critiques those advocating protective tariffs and isolationism as naive—the "big sucker" foolishly believing his selfish policies avoid international entanglement when they actually invite disaster.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains several satirical pieces targeting early 20th-century American social attitudes: **"The Roughneck"** mocks urban pretension through a speaker who claims superiority by rejecting "society" while describing his crude wife as a "footstool stuffed with down"—satirizing working-class men who boast of rejecting refined society while treating their wives as objects. **"I Need a Million Dollars"** depicts romantic fantasy versus reality: a man dreams of romantic travel with "Marie" to exotic locations (Sahara, Naples, Nice), but she repeatedly asks the practical question: "where are you gonna get the money?"—lampooning sentimental male dreamers disconnected from financial reality. **"A Natural Question"** uses rural Arkansas dialect to satirize Northern migrants: a man gets beaten with his own hoe during a political argument, and locals find it "funny" that he was hoeing at all instead of having his wife do it—mocking both sectional tensions and gender role assumptions. The remaining brief items are simple joke formats typical of the era's humor magazines.

# "Chawlie in His New Role" This comic strip features a character named Chawlie (likely a dialectal spelling referencing a working-class or immigrant character, possibly Charlie Chaplin-inspired) attempting a new job as a cowherd or pastoral worker. The humor centers on Chawlie's incompetence and confusion: he struggles to understand basic pastoral duties, confuses different types of cows, and comically fails at animal husbandry tasks shown through physical slapstick across 10 panels. The "new role" appears to be a comedown—suggesting he's taken an unsuitable job below his station. The satire likely mocks either working-class aspirations, immigrant labor experiences, or a specific public figure's career misstep (the character reference remains unclear without additional context). The strip's physical comedy and dialect humor reflect Judge magazine's style of satirizing contemporary social and class dynamics through exaggerated character types.