Judge — December 17, 1921

This page contains no cartoon or satirical image—it's purely editorial text promoting *Leslie's Weekly* magazine's value proposition. The article "The Way to Measure Magazine Value" argues that *Leslie's Weekly*, at 10 cents per copy, offers superior content-to-price ratio compared to a competitor (likely *Judge* itself, humorously), which charges 25 cents for a bulkier monthly format. The piece boasts *Leslie's* features established writers (Theodore Waters, Samuel Hopkins Adams, Arthur Ruhl) and announces new content by Seammon Lockwood. It emphasizes entertainment value alongside substance, claiming readers gain permanent worth beyond mere amusement. The self-promotional tone is characteristic of early 20th-century magazine advertising, though the specific competitive comparison remains somewhat indirect.

# Judge Magazine, December 17, 1921 This page contains three unrelated humorous vignettes typical of Judge's satirical style: **"Doubly Afflicted"**: A wife complains that her husband's insomnia and snoring create a double problem—he can't sleep, and his snoring prevents her from sleeping either. **"A Lawyer's Love"**: A young lawyer reassures his romantic partner that she comes before everyone else, then clarifies she's "the party of the first part"—a legal phrase suggesting he views their relationship through a contractual, legalistic lens rather than emotional one. **"Explained"**: An unexplained job acquisition is attributed to connections and ignorance—the candidate knew the manager personally but the manager didn't know the applicant. The central sketch by Nancy Fox depicts a domestic scene. These pieces rely on wordplay and situational irony typical of early 1920s genteel humor magazines.

# Analysis This page from *Judge* magazine contains three short humorous pieces with accompanying illustration by Perry Barlow. The central drawing depicts anthropomorphized animals (appearing to be bears or similar creatures) in winter clothing conducting Christmas shopping, illustrating the accompanying verses and jokes below. The three pieces—"A Christmas Candle" by Ralph Bergengren, "Abbreviated" (about yachting costume propriety), and "Ruinous" (about Christmas shopping timing)—are gentle domestic humor focusing on seasonal customs and shopping habits rather than political satire. "Shopping Early" by Berton Braley jokes about men's gift-giving failures, suggesting a husband's November hat purchase proved outdated by Christmas—typical turn-of-the-century domestic comedy mocking male shopping incompetence. The content reflects *Judge*'s focus on social observation and wordplay rather than hard political commentary.

# "A Christmas Dream" by Arthur H. Folwell This is a humorous short story rather than political satire. The narrative concerns Mr. Clammish, a businessman who falls asleep at his desk early in November and awakens believing he's slept for weeks—convinced it's Christmas time. His wife finds him confused and disoriented, insisting the date is November 11th despite his insistence that weeks have passed. The story appears to satirize the anxieties of overworked businessmen and the compressed, hectic nature of the pre-Christmas season, where time seems to distort. The accompanying illustrations by the cherubic, cloud-dwelling figures suggest a dreamlike quality. This is primarily entertainment rather than political commentary.

# Analysis of "The Lottery of Yule" Page **Main Article:** Vance C. Criss's essay critiques Christmas gift-giving expectations. He argues that the *spirit* of giving matters more than the *object* given, and that people obsess over material gifts while missing the true meaning of Christmas. The essay warns against the anxiety and regret surrounding gift-exchange. **Illustration by Robert Lambden ("Only a Wish"):** Shows a child gazing at Santa's sleigh against the moon—a straightforward romantic image of Christmas wonder. **Bottom Comics ("Christmas If's"):** Five female faces express anxiety about gift-giving reciprocity—worrying whether gifts received are "worth more" than those given, or fearing they'll receive nothing in return. These satirize the transactional, competitive nature of holiday gift-exchange among adults. The page collectively mocks how Christmas gift-giving had become an anxious social obligation rather than an expression of genuine goodwill.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains multiple short humorous pieces satirizing Christmas shopping and domestic life circa 1920s America. **Main cartoon** (Stuart Hay illustration): A woman hires a man for a job, asking him to gather eggs while promising trustworthiness. He responds that as a former bathhouse manager for fifteen years who "never took a bath," he's reliable—the joke being that someone who steals from his employer (bathwater) while claiming honesty is obviously untrustworthy. It's a working-class humor piece about dishonest servants. **Text pieces** by Carolyn Wells humorously catalogue Christmas shopping frustrations: indecisive customers, demanding wives, exhausted shoppers, and the commercialization of gift-giving. One bit jokes that Santa's wife finds his comment about "seeing stockings all my life" unsurprising. The smaller items mock marital dynamics, mistletoe encounters, and children's Christmas expectations. **Overall tone**: Lighthearted domestic satire targeting consumer culture, marriage complications, and class anxieties—typical Judge magazine fare mocking middle-class American life.

# Political and Social Satire from Judge Magazine This page contains three distinct satirical pieces attacking American society: **"Captains of Industry"** mocks wealthy industrialists as quasi-religious figures worshipping profit, treating ledgers as scripture and financial statements as prayers—critiquing unchecked capitalism and moral corruption among the wealthy. **"Mr. Frost, the Juggler"** appears to reference a public figure (likely Jack Frost or similar) seducing women, using magical imagery to suggest deceptive romantic manipulation. **"Upholding the Constitution"** satirizes law enforcement priorities: a police officer pursues a man with alcohol (during Prohibition era) while ignoring an actual bank robbery, exposing the absurdity of enforcing unpopular moral legislation over protecting property and public safety. The etching above shows a figure examining a child, with a darkly comic prayer about conscience and Santa—likely condemning hypocrisy among the wealthy who exploit children while maintaining moral pretenses. These pieces collectively attack corruption, materialism, and selective justice in American institutions.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This page contains three humorous pieces from Judge magazine: 1. **"Christmas" by Battell Loomis**: A poem welcoming Father Christmas back, celebrating the festive spirit. It addresses various ethnic groups ("Ignatz," "Johann," "Li Hung," "Luis") with inclusive goodwill—reflecting early 20th-century America's immigrant diversity. The repeated references to "red blood" emphasize vitality and shared humanity across these groups. 2. **"The Care of Spats" by John H. McNeely**: A satirical essay treating spats (ankle coverings worn over shoes—a fashionable accessory of the era) as if they were high-maintenance pets requiring constant vigilance. The humor lies in the exaggerated solemnity applied to a trivial fashion concern. 3. **"The Test" by Ruth Bassett**: A brief, cynical poem suggesting that how a man behaves when someone accidentally hits his golf ball reveals his true character—saint or devil. The cartoon shows a domestic scene of gift-giving, with a child requesting toys rather than practical clothing.

# Explanation for Modern Readers This Judge magazine page contains several satirical pieces mocking human behavior through exaggeration and wordplay. **"Take Your Sheep Away"** ridicules a Brooklyn doctor's claim that sheep thyroid injections improve thinking. The author humorously argues sheep are intellectually worthless, illustrated by an anecdote about a sheep's stubborn stupidity on railroad tracks—it refuses to step aside from an oncoming train despite the engineer's desperate attempts to warn it, ultimately getting hit. The satire targets both the doctor's dubious medical claim and sheep's legendary lack of common sense. **Other items** include a sentimental poem mocking romantic devotion, a joke about kissing in public leading to marriage as punishment, and political humor about congressmen striking spoken words from the record—referencing legislative procedures for removing statements from official proceedings. The cartoon showing "A depositor in the First National Bank" appears to depict anxiety about banking, likely referencing contemporary financial concerns.

# "Helping Normalcy Along" — Explanation for Modern Readers This satirical piece critiques post-WWI America's embrace of "Normalcy"—President Warren G. Harding's 1920 campaign promise to return to pre-war stability after social upheaval. **The satire:** The narrator claims to help "Normalcy" by simply paying his bills on time and doing manual labor (breaking rocks, building walls). He mocks two groups: verbose lecturers and politicians who make grandiose speeches but accomplish nothing, and pessimists who constantly warn of national collapse. **The point:** Mason argues that genuine progress comes through ordinary work and financial responsibility, not rhetoric or doom-saying. However, the irony is sharp—the illustration shows a figure literally juggling planets while claiming his modest bill-paying helps the nation. This suggests that individual actions, while admirable, cannot actually address systemic problems or prevent larger forces (economic cycles, social change) from affecting the country. **Context:** This reflects 1920s conservative thinking that blamed labor unrest and social criticism for instability, promoting instead a "bootstrap" philosophy of personal virtue solving national problems.

# "Are Editors People?" by Heywood Broun This satirical essay mocks magazine editors as mysterious, illogical figures who make incomprehensible demands on writers. The cartoon header depicts a locomotive labeled "1939" alongside figures in an editorial office—visualizing the collision between editors and creative work. Broun's humor targets editors' pretentious vagueness: one editor cryptically insists writers remember "Blank's Magazine is read at five o'clock in the afternoon"—advice so obscure it paralyzes the writer with uncertainty (does he mean London or San Francisco time?). The piece ridicules editors' invocation of the "farmer in Iowa" as an imaginary arbiter of public taste—a convenient, distant figure used to reject manuscripts without real justification. Broun suggests editors wield arbitrary power from their swivel chairs while claiming to speak for ordinary readers they don't actually understand. The title poses a rhetorical question: are editors even *people*—implying they're incomprehensible beings of pure institutional authority.

# "The Gish Sisters" and Silent Film Satire This Judge magazine page reviews D.W. Griffith's film adaptation of *The Two Orphans*, featuring the Gish Sisters, prominent silent film actresses. The accompanying photos showcase Marjorie Daw, another contemporary film star. The main satire critiques film plots—specifically how *A Prince There Was* portrays a sympathetic magazine editor as hero. The writer mocks this trope: if every rejected author literally bought a magazine to publish their story (firing the managing editor into a snowstorm), editors would face financial ruin. The joke suggests this fantasy scenario reflects authors' actual resentment toward rejection. This reflects early 1920s tensions between literary establishments and emerging film culture, where movies increasingly adapted stage plays and literary works while satirizing the publishing world's gatekeepers.