Judge — August 28, 1920

# Camel Cigarettes Advertisement This is a **commercial advertisement**, not political satire. The page promotes Camel cigarettes by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The ad uses the slogan "You've got all four corners bolted down" to suggest stability and reliability. It emphasizes Camel's blend of Turkish and domestic tobaccos, claiming superior "refreshing flavor and remarkable mellow mildness." The camel mascot appears on the product packaging. A modern reader should note this represents **pre-health-warning era advertising** when tobacco companies could make unqualified claims about product quality and consumer satisfaction without disclosing health risks. The ad's confident promises about "supreme satisfaction" reflect advertising practices later heavily restricted.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine, August 28, 1920 **Title & Setup**: "Guess How Many Will Attend Next Sunday" **The Satire**: A Sunday School superintendent announces that Miss Freestone's absence means Brother Grimjaw will lead the class. The cartoon mocks the likely dramatic difference in attendance this will cause—implying Brother Grimjaw is so stern or unpleasant that his presence will drive away attendance. **Visual Joke**: The contrast between the superintendent's mild demeanor and Grimjaw's stern, imposing appearance (emphasized by his dark clothing and severe features) underscores that replacing a popular teacher with an unpopular one will predictably empty the classroom. **Context**: This reflects early-20th-century American Sunday School culture and the humor derives from recognizable social types—the officious administrator and the frighteningly stern religious authority figure.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This is an illustration by Walter De Maris depicting two figures in conversation beneath an archway with moonlight visible beyond. The caption reads: "I find the only way to keep servants is to treat them as our equals." "But, my dear, aren't you rather ambitious?" The cartoon satirizes the tension between democratic ideals and class hierarchy in early 20th-century America. One figure advocates treating servants as social equals—a progressive notion for the era. The other character's response mocking this as "ambitious" expresses the conservative viewpoint that such equality is unrealistic or pretentious. The satire targets wealthy individuals who claim egalitarian principles while maintaining traditional class distinctions in household labor relationships.

# Analysis This page presents the opening of a serialized fiction story titled "A, E, I, O, U or The Mysterious Letters" by Gelett Burgess, published in Judge magazine. The illustration shows a well-dressed man in a top hat sitting on a donkey—a visual gag emphasizing absurdity or foolishness. The story itself concerns "Ferret," an albino detective involved in financial crimes and mysterious anonymous letters. The narrative appears to be a mystery-comedy hybrid, typical of Judge's satirical fiction format of the era. The humor relies on wordplay (the mysterious vowel-titled letters), physical comedy (the donkey illustration), and the melodramatic tone of period mystery stories. Without additional historical context, the specific satirical targets remain unclear, though it likely mocks contemporary detective fiction conventions.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains **fictional narrative content** rather than political satire. It's from a serialized story featuring characters named Ferret, Pearl Mazumond, and others engaged in what appears to be a detective or adventure plot. The top illustration "A Cry for Help" shows figures on a pier, drawn by Ray Roos. Below are chapter excerpts discussing Ferret's investigation and witty exchanges about personal grooming ("mole on the back of your neck," "hair getting brunettified"). The middle illustration "The Battle of Bunker Hill" by Paul Revere depicts what seems to be a comedic scene of figures in combat or conflict in a rural setting. **This page is primarily **literary entertainment** rather than political commentary**—typical of Judge's mix of humor, illustrations, and serialized fiction for early 20th-century readers.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page from Judge satirizes marital miscommunication and obsession. The main narrative follows "Ferret," a man receiving mysterious letters signed "Jombo" at his home, driving him to paranoid investigation with a magnifying glass. He suspects his wife of infidelity, even consulting a Ouija Board. **The cartoons illustrate:** 1. **Top illustration**: A man stuck on an iron box—visual metaphor for his predicament, rendered absurd by showing him literally perched on an oversized wheel. 2. **"The Third Party Before and After Marriage"**: Contrasts a social gathering (before) with a domestic scene (after), satirizing how marriage changes social dynamics. The satire mocks masculine anxiety about female independence and communication failures between spouses. The absurdist humor—mysterious letters, Ouija boards, a woman finding romance at a movie set—exaggerates domestic paranoia typical of 1920s-era Judge comedy, targeting readers' anxieties about changing gender roles post-WWI.

# Explanation for Modern Readers This page from *Judge* magazine contains satirical content from the World War I era, identifiable by references to "War-tax" and "the Kaiser." **Main Cartoon**: "Willie's Idea of the Weather Man" depicts a man at a desk with weather instruments, humorously representing how meteorologists were viewed—as unreliable predictors. The joke reflects public frustration with inaccurate forecasting. **"Some of the Few Things Which Five Cents Will Still Buy"**: This is economic satire about inflation during wartime. Items that once cost a nickel—coffee, candy, bread, soda—either now cost more or the portions have shrunk. References to "War-tax" and "high cost of living" highlight how WWI drove up prices, making five cents nearly worthless. Abraham Lincoln appears because his portrait was on the penny, suggesting even portraits of presidents were now cheap/abundant. **"More War-Made Millionaires"**: Dark humor about profiteering from war. The "Map Makers Association" joke suggests those who benefited financially from the war (military suppliers, industrialists) celebrated while enemies like the Kaiser suffered—a critique of war profiteering. The overall tone criticizes wartime inflation and those who grew wealthy from conflict.

# Explanation for Modern Readers The main cartoon satirizes how magazines interrupt romantic narratives with advertisements. A poem titled "The Hop, Skip and Jump in Literature" mocks serialized love stories that constantly break the hero's passionate declarations with product ads—"Phyllis, my sweetheart..." followed by cigarettes, soap, motor-car fixes, and toothpaste before continuing pages later with "Hold my heart in your dear little hand..." (Continued on Page 42). The joke: magazines cynically fragment emotional moments to maximize ad placement, trivializing literature and romance equally. References to "Solomon's rules" (biblical wisdom about human nature) suggest nothing changes—men still pursue women predictably, and publishers still interrupt storytelling for profit. Below are two brief unrelated jokes about wasted paper in bills and expectations about clever men and marriage. The cartoon artist criticizes early 20th-century magazine publishing practices.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains several satirical pieces reflecting early 20th-century American social anxieties: **"Twelve Months After"** mocks romantic idealism. A man quotes cynically that loving one woman for forty years means insanity, yet confidently asserts he'll love his romantic interest forever. A year later, he encounters her married to someone else at a hotel—the implication being that women's affections are transient and marriage prospects uncertain, undermining the male narrator's romantic certainty. **"Two Inscriptions"** contrasts old-fashioned romance with modern materialism: the first celebrates a home built on love and dreams; the second frankly admits a house financed through mortgages, stocks, and borrowed money for status ("Exclusive Hill"). **The shorter pieces** satirize gender dynamics and class aspirations: a woman refuses to wear her husband's pants publicly (risking being "pinched" or arrested for cross-dressing); a census-taker encounters someone with no installment furniture; a self-made man renovated his car and wife. The magazine targets pretension, marital disappointment, and the gap between romantic ideals and economic reality in the modern era.

# "The Sad Old World" Analysis This is a humorous story illustrated by Ralph Barton satirizing pessimistic religious attitudes popular in early 20th-century America. The narrative, by Walt Mason, mocks people who constantly complain about life as a "vale of tears" while paradoxically desperately clinging to existence. The central joke appears in the illustration's caption: Uncle James, who spent his life denouncing this world as sinful and eagerly awaiting heaven, ironically "tries so hard to dodge the hearse"—he desperately seeks medical remedies and refuses to die despite his professed disdain for earthly life. The story's point: people who publicly condemn the world as wretched actually treasure life and fear death. The narrator himself admits he complains about modern inconveniences but won't "rush to reach the stars"—he prefers earthly existence, assuming heaven lacks "motor cars or movies." It's gentle satire of hypocrisy and the human contradiction between stated beliefs and actual behavior.

# "Pebbles on the Beach" — Political Satire This single-panel cartoon depicts various political figures and issues as characters scattered on a beach, drawn by Elloson Hoover. The "Woman Vote" appears central, surrounded by politicians and issues competing for attention. Visible figures include Cox, Harding, Coolidge, Hayes, Roosevelt, and others—likely referencing the 1920 presidential election. Issues like "The Congress," "Capital," "Labor," "Debt," and the "Eighteenth Amendment" are personified as separate entities on the shore. The beach setting suggests these political matters are trivial distractions ("pebbles"), while waves in the background may represent larger forces. The satire appears to mock how politicians and issues competed for women voters' newly granted suffrage rights (19th Amendment, ratified 1920).