Judge — November 12, 1921

# Analysis This page is **primarily an advertisement**, not editorial satire. It promotes "Good Pictures" — framed art prints from the Leslie-Judge Company available for purchase. The ad emphasizes that these are reproductions of paintings by "leading American artists" previously featured on *Leslie's Weekly* and *Judge* magazine covers. Priced affordably ($2.00-$3.00 each, or five for ten dollars), the paintings are marketed as ideal gifts combining "beauty, culture, permanence." The reproduced artworks shown depict conventional subjects: portraits, maritime scenes, domestic moments, and landscapes. There is **no political satire or social commentary** present — this is straightforward commercial promotion leveraging the prestige of *Judge* magazine's artistic associations to sell home décor to middle-class readers seeking affordable culture.

# Judge Magazine, November 12, 1921 This is a single-panel cartoon by Nancy Fay depicting a beauty salon scene. Two women are discussing haircuts: **Sally** has cut her hair short because it's comfortable in that way. **Margot** responds by reminding Sally of a woman who didn't wear her wedding ring because it was too hot. The joke satirizes women who adopt practical or comfortable styles while ignoring social conventions. In 1921, the "bob" haircut was controversial—a symbol of modern, independent "flapper" women rejecting Victorian femininity. Margot's comment equates removing a wedding ring (abandoning marital status) with cutting hair, suggesting both represent abandoning proper feminine identity for mere comfort. The cartoon mocks this casual disregard for traditional expectations.

# Analysis of "Gee, I Wonder Who She Is!" This page from *Judge* magazine features a poem by Karl H. Rogers titled "Gee! I'm Thankful!" The illustration depicts a soldier in a dark, forested setting gazing at a ghostly female figure in the moonlight—likely representing a sweetheart or wife left behind. The poem's theme is ironic gratitude: the narrator, wounded in WWI combat against the Prussians, survives and marries. However, he now faces "another war" on the home front—domestic marital conflict. The satirical point mocks the contrast between surviving actual warfare and enduring marriage troubles, suggesting married life poses equal or greater hardship than combat. The accompanying "Where It Leads" section plays on this domestic discord theme, referencing divorce.

# Analysis The page contains an article titled "How to Become a Home Brewer" by Norman Anthony, accompanied by a humorous illustration titled "Dust Unto Dusters." **The Cartoon**: The sketch shows two turkeys or large birds in grass, with one saying to the other: "Oh, Jeremiah, how—how much that looks like our dear little Gobbie!" The joke appears to reference Prohibition era humor—the birds are presumably discussing something that resembles a dead turkey, possibly implying confusion about poultry during a time when home brewing and alcohol production were illegal. **The Article**: It's a tongue-in-cheek instructional piece about illegal home brewing during Prohibition (when alcohol production was banned in the U.S.). The satire mocks the process of making beer at home using basic equipment and fruits, while offering practical details that would help readers circumvent alcohol laws. Together, the page satirizes Americans' efforts to produce alcohol illegally during Prohibition.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains three distinct pieces: 1. **"The Goddess Serves"** by Ralph Dyer: A humorous short story about a restaurant patron's irritation with an overly fashionable waitress whose shirt keeps escaping from her skirt. The satire targets both the waitress's vanity and the narrator's critical pretension. 2. **"Jim Barnes' List of Ten Common Faults of Golfers"**: An illustrated guide (drawn by René Clarke) depicting golf swing errors. This appears educational rather than satirical. 3. **"The Pup"** and **"The Widow and Liabilities"**: Brief cartoon vignettes about dogs and family situations. The overall page mixes social comedy with practical advice, typical of Judge's content mixing satire with lifestyle humor aimed at early 20th-century middle-class readers.

This cartoon satirizes a burglar's complaint about changing theft prevention methods. "Second-story Jiggers" is a burglar specializing in upper-floor break-ins (a "second-story job" was criminal slang for such robberies). The joke mocks his professional obsolescence: he spent a decade mastering his craft—breaking into second-story windows—only to find homeowners have adapted by moving valuables to basement storage, rendering his expertise useless. The satire targets both the burglar's misplaced sense of injured pride and, implicitly, society's ongoing arms race between criminals and self-protection measures. It's a darkly humorous commentary on how criminal "specialization" becomes worthless when targets evolve their defenses. The cartoon assumes readers understood burglar slang and contemporary urban crime concerns.

This page features a theatrical photograph rather than a political cartoon. It shows actress Marjorie Rambeau in a scene from the play "Daddy's Gone a-Hunting" at the Plymouth Theater. The image captures her in an elegant, flowing white gown photographed against a dark background in a dramatic pose typical of early 20th-century stage photography. The caption identifies her as "One of JUDGE's Favorites," suggesting the magazine's editors admired her work. This appears to be entertainment coverage rather than satirical commentary—Judge magazine regularly featured theatrical reviews and celebrity photographs alongside its political cartoons. The photograph itself is credited to photographer Anne.

# "Cutting Down Cobb" - Judge Magazine This article satirizes the popular dieting craze sparked by Irvin Cobb's weight-loss book "One Third Off." Cobb, a well-known humorist and writer, had famously reduced from 236 to 190 pounds, and the author (Walter Prichard Eaton) mocks the self-righteous evangelism with which Cobb and others promote their dietary success. The piece's humor centers on the author's complaint that thin people like himself can't gain weight despite eating constantly, while his wife now obsessively follows Cobb's (and Vance Thompson's competing diet book) methods, eliminating desserts and fatty foods from their household. The accompanying "Fuller Humor" cartoons humorously show the domestic consequences: children's exaggerated eating boasts at Thanksgiving, and a girl worried their single turkey won't suffice for Uncle John's visit—reflecting the food scarcity concerns of the pre-1920s period when these diet books were sensation publishing events.

# Political-Cartoon & Comics Analysis This Judge magazine page contains three satirical items: **"Not in a Fight"**: A racist dialect joke about Charley, a Black office janitor with a black eye. The humor relies on crude stereotypes and minstrelsy conventions—the punchline plays on the distinction between "fighting" and domestic violence from his wife, with phonetic dialect spelling ("Mah wife," "sah," "da't") meant to demean. **"Peter's Pence"**: A brief religious joke. "Peter's Pence" refers to papal donations; the humor suggests a borrowed bill is "Catholic" because it "keeps Lent"—a reference to Catholic fasting practices, implying the money won't be spent/used during Lent. **"Chestnut Stuffing"**: An advertisement disguised as editorial content, promoting chestnuts for Thanksgiving turkey stuffing. The term "chestnut" also means an old, tired joke—creating meta-humor by calling old jokes "chestnuts" while advertising actual chestnuts. The large cartoon at bottom ("Noah Hands Out a Few Good Ones") appears to illustrate these jokes with fantastical animal characters, though its specific reference remains unclear without additional context.

# "Life Is a Success" — Analysis This is a humorous essay-illustration hybrid arguing that modern life (early 20th century) represents genuine progress. The author contrasts the *actual* hardships of historical royalty—specifically **Queen Elizabeth I**—with contemporary working-class comfort. The satire's premise: Queen Bess endured flies, smoky fires, unreliable servants, poor musicians, and primitive lighting, yet complained constantly. By this logic, a modern "honest toiling voter" enjoys electric lights, screened windows, heating, phonographs, and automobiles—genuine luxuries kings once lacked—so he has *no right* to complain about his lot. The underlying message is pro-capitalist and anti-labor-complaint: technological progress has democratized comfort so thoroughly that workers' grievances seem ungrateful. It's a defense of the status quo through historical comparison, suggesting discontent is illogical given modern amenities. The illustrations by Ralph Barton show the contrast between Elizabeth's frustrated court and contemporary leisure activities.

# "Bonnie Prince Charlie" — A Defense of Charlie Chaplin This article by Heywood Broun defends Charlie Chaplin against recent critical praise, specifically addressing a Manchester Guardian piece claiming Chaplin learned his mannerisms from cats. Broun argues the reverse is more likely true. The piece celebrates Chaplin's rise from street performer to serious artist. It notes his early years involved unpaid falls and kicks—later becoming financially valuable through film. Broun argues Chaplin became great by recognizing the tragic dimension of physical comedy, transforming custard pies into something "cosmic." Regarding Chaplin's new film "The Idle Class," Broun notes it lacks the socialist reformism the title might suggest. Instead, Chaplin plays a fop and tramp, allowing him to display elegant movement alongside his trademark graceful pratfalls—his essential artistic gift. The page includes photographs of other silent film stars (Doris Kenyon, Gloria Swanson, Wallace Reid), positioning Chaplin among Hollywood's elite.