Judge — August 19, 1922

# "Reflections of a Bachelor" - Wall Street Plunger Analysis This satirical cartoon depicts "A Wall Street Plunger and His Light Six" - a mockery of a wealthy stock market speculator and his six female companions. The image shows seven figures in swimwear holding a rope chain while appearing to jump or dance together at a beach. The satire targets the excesses of 1920s Wall Street wealth and the lifestyle of speculators who made rapid fortunes during the era's bull market. The "light six" likely references both the women accompanying him and possibly a car model of the period. The cartoon criticizes how such wealth enabled frivolous, ostentatious leisure activities and romantic escapades, suggesting the moral questionability of fortune-making through stock speculation during this era of economic excess.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page (August 19, 1922) The main cartoon depicts a woman ("Miss Van") being photographed by numerous cameramen and reporters—a satire on celebrity culture and press obsession with prominent women. The accompanying article "Self-improvement" by John Matter humorously discusses "ancient Babylonites" as a comedic device, suggesting self-improvement through studying history. The sidebar jokes reference vaudeville performers and theatrical acts, including references to "Schim, the Educated Jackass & Co."—likely a real or fictional novelty act of the era. The "Teacher" question about verb conjugations appears to be a standard educational humor feature. Overall, this page satirizes 1920s celebrity worship, particularly of women in entertainment, and pokes fun at contemporary theatrical and variety show culture. The Babylonites references remain unclear without additional context.

# "Daphne Just Adores Yachting" by George Mitchell This article by George Mitchell, illustrated by William Bolin, is a humorous essay comparing a woman's love of yachting to her love of dancing. The repeated refrain "I love Dancing but I love Yachting better" frames the piece as satire on upper-class leisure pursuits. The illustrations show fashionable people in evening dress at formal dinners and social gatherings, contrasted with yachting scenes. The joke appears to target wealthy society women who enthusiastically adopt fashionable activities. The illustrations emphasize elegance and sophistication while Mitchell's text suggests the narrator's somewhat superficial enjoyment of yachting as a prestigious pastime. This reflects 1920s-era satire of Jazz Age social climbing and conspicuous consumption among the wealthy.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page **The Cartoon (top):** Drawn by Gilbert Wilkinson, this sketch shows two figures in an artist's studio. The dialogue satirizes the struggle for artistic recognition: a "Soulful Girl" complains that artists never receive fair reward, while a "Cynical Artist" cynically responds that success requires committing "murder or some such thing." **The Article (below):** "Clear, Cold Logic and the Irish Question" by Gardner Rea presents a dialogue between characters named Millivent and an Irish person (not clearly identified). The conversation appears to mock Irish stereotypes and political positions on Irish independence, using the characters' exchange to satirize both Irish politics and American attitudes toward the "Irish Question"—a major political issue of the early 20th century. The satire targets both artistic pretension and Irish political discourse.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page The top illustration appears to be a decorative art piece rather than political satire, showing two figures in a boat amid stylized waves. The dialogue below—attributed to "Vasect Violet" and "Practical Harold"—is humorous domestic banter about deep water, but contains no identifiable political or social commentary. The bottom section presents "Evolution" by Katherine Negley, a satirical short story about cosmetics and beauty standards. The text mocks women's elaborate grooming routines, describing how "Great grandmother" used minimal cosmetics while modern women engage in excessive makeup application—powdering, rouging, applying rouge to fingertips and heels. This satirizes early 20th-century beauty culture and the growing cosmetics industry's influence on women's self-presentation practices.

# "Told at the 19th Hole" — Judge Magazine This page presents three humorous golf stories, a popular leisure activity for affluent readers of early 20th-century Judge magazine. **"The Lonely Golfer's Hant"** uses gothic supernatural imagery as extended comedy: a frustrated golfer dies on the course, then his ghost returns to play perfectly—the joke being that only death grants golf mastery. The moral ("try, try again") mockingly suggests persistence is useless. **Pat's story** satirizes Irish immigrants' unfamiliarity with upper-class leisure. Pat, hiring a professional instructor, demonstrates comic incompetence: he can't understand basic golf mechanics, with the punchline that he'll "never make a golf player." **The Colonel's story** contrasts military dignity with golf's indignity—a dignified officer falls from his horse unnoticed, then is struck by a golf ball and cannot identify which direction it came from. All three stories mock golfers (whether dead, immigrant, or military) and highlight golf as a source of humiliation, frustration, and class-based comedy for Judge's affluent readership.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This Judge magazine page contains several brief humorous stories and a golf illustration: **Main cartoon**: Shows J. H. Taylor (a famous golfer) and "Sandy" Herd in their distinctive golf attire. The caption notes Taylor's famous "wonderful breeks" (trousers) and equipment were so recognizable that spectators could identify his ball by sight alone. This celebrates early 20th-century professional golf celebrity. **The stories** are period humor anecdotes about: - A colored boy with no parents (problematic racial humor typical of the era) - A man who drinks, goes deaf, then recovers his hearing by quitting alcohol, but then becomes deaf again (ironic twist ending) - Three men (English, Irish, Scottish) competing in boasting about close races—the Irishman jokes that "the Scotch" are the closest races (implying Scots are stingy/miserly) - A golf enthusiast's competition joke The page reflects early 20th-century American satirical magazine humor: focused on sports celebrities, ethnic stereotyping, and wordplay. The golf content suggests affluent readership interested in the sport.

# "The Manly Art and Jefferson Machamer" - Judge Magazine This page satirizes the Leonard-Tendler boxing match and contemporary prize-fighting culture. The top strip follows a fan's exhausting journey to and from the fight via subway, depicting the physical ordeal of attending. The humor targets: - **Boxing spectators**: depicted as rowdy, drunk ("flask"), and socially crude - **The radio broadcast**: a new technology criticized for enabling commentary from "ringside" commentary that intrudes on the experience - **Intellectual pretension**: Professor Broun's claim that boxing represents "intellectual force rather than brute" is mocked as absurd - **Boxing culture generally**: presented as lowbrow entertainment attracting unsophisticated crowds The cartoon critiques both the sport itself and the fans who attend, suggesting boxing draws hard-drinking, crude individuals. The repeated emphasis on counting ("ten"), tickets, and technical rules underscores the satirist's view of boxing as a somewhat disreputable spectacle despite its growing popularity in the 1920s.

# Heywood Broun's "The Learned Mr. Leonard" This sports column compares prize fighter **Benny Leonard** to golfers like Walter Hagen and Hutchinson, arguing that boxing is intellectually superior to golf—contrary to common assumptions that boxing is "low-brow." Broun's central argument: both sports require precise targeting, but Leonard's task is infinitely more complex. A golfer can study the green calmly; a boxer must calculate his punch's trajectory while his target moves and tries to hit him back. The piece humorously suggests that if golfers were allowed to shout at opponents (as boxers endure), the sport would become as strategically sophisticated as boxing. The column celebrates Leonard's mental discipline, noting his ability to learn and adapt even under disadvantageous conditions (fighting southpaw Lew Tendler). For Broun, boxing exemplifies how sport reveals character—intelligence, judgment, and personality matter as much as physical ability. The thrust: boxing deserves respect as a "highly-intellectualized" sport, challenging prevailing class-based prejudices about the sport.

# "As We Were Saying" - Judge Magazine Satire This is a satirical commentary page mixing political humor with social observation, typical of Judge magazine's style. **Key references:** - **Paderewski's return**: Polish pianist/statesman announces comeback; joke is "bobbed hair" (1920s women's fashion) is now commonplace, not novel - **George Harvey**: American diplomat/politician sent abroad as "eccentric comedian" - **Shipping Board wine list**: References a scandal where the U.S. Shipping Board's expensive wine cellar became public knowledge, embarrassingly attracting crowds to liners - **Republican Old Guard/Marshal Grouchy**: Compares GOP leadership to Napoleon's general who failed to support him at Waterloo—suggesting Republicans likewise refuse to "turn back" (support their base) - **"Normalcy"**: Reference to Harding's 1920 campaign promise of "return to normalcy" The page mocks government inefficiency, political hypocrisy, and changing social mores with quick, biting quips rather than elaborate cartoons.

# "Stories to Tell" - Judge Magazine Humor Page This is a humor page featuring five short joke stories competing for prizes ($10 for first place, $5 for second). The content reflects early 20th-century American stereotypes and social attitudes: **Notable stories:** - A divorce case where a Black man (shown in dialect) is shocked at paying only $2/week alimony, thinking $2 is substantial money - A Mrs. Van Tuyl seeking seasickness advice, receiving contradictory guidance - A police officer (Pat, depicted with Irish stereotyping) arresting a man for "bigotry," confusing it with "trigonometry" - A "flapper" stalling her car in traffic, responding sweetly to an officer's demands - A woman weighing her cat to prove it ate her butter **The satire targets:** dialect humor, Irish policemen, modern young women ("flappers"), and everyday absurdities. The humor relies heavily on period racial and ethnic stereotyping now considered offensive. The page illustrates what Judge considered amusing: character-based comedy, wordplay, and social observation typical of 1920s popular humor magazines.