Judge — September 23, 1922

# Analysis This page is primarily **promotional text** rather than a political cartoon. It advertises next week's "Banker's Number" issue of *Judge* magazine. The text promises humorous stories about bankers' personal lives, claiming to reveal that financial institutions have human warmth and humor. It mentions contributors Angus MacDonall, Orson Lowell, John Held Jr., and Simon Werner producing illustrations. The satire is mild: the premise that bankers might possess "hearts" and "joy" suggests contemporary skepticism about banking institutions' humanity—likely reflecting post-WWI American attitudes toward finance and big business. The page also advertises upcoming special issues (Navy, Army, and Follies numbers), indicating *Judge's* regular publication practices and marketing approach to readers during this era.

# "Seniority in the Home" This 1922 satirical piece depicts the tension between family hierarchy and workplace strikes. The article's narrator—a striking worker—claims he'll forfeit seniority rights at his job to maintain domestic authority at home. He promises to transfer "privileges" like turning off the alarm clock and removing ashes to his eldest son, but only if allowed to retain his position as "head of the family" and "carving" authority at dinner. The satire mocks masculinity anxiety: the working man fears losing domestic power as readily as workplace seniority. The accompanying schoolhouse illustration with the caption "There's no school like an old school" reinforces the conservative point—traditional family structures (paternal authority) are as valuable as traditional education. The piece suggests 1920s debates about changing gender roles and labor organization.

# Analysis The cartoon by Robert Patterson shows "Miss Fifi Kickhigh" carrying an enormous ice cream sundae across a checkered floor, captioned "stops in for 'just a bite' after the show!" This is a visual gag about gluttony and ironic understatement—the character's claim of wanting "just a bite" contradicts the absurdly oversized dessert she's carrying. The exaggerated proportions and theatrical setting suggest she's a showgirl or performer. Below, the article "Professor Bungle" by George Mitchell satirizes outdated educational practices, particularly the emphasis on classical languages like Greek and Latin. Mitchell argues these subjects are impractical and obsolete compared to useful modern skills, making a modernization argument about what schools should teach.

# "The Modern Wedding Service" by Frank H. Williams This satirical piece mocks contemporary marriage vows and domestic expectations. The top illustration shows an "Elderly Lady" commenting that newlyweds "aren't only their clothes—they're built different," suggesting women are fundamentally altered by marriage. The text presents increasingly absurd modern marriage promises, parodying traditional vows by adding contemporary financial obligations: income taxes, state taxes, city taxes, amusement taxes, and "lodge dues and raisin' bills." The satire targets how marriage has become economically burdensome rather than romantic. The bottom cartoon, "The Night Shift," depicts husbands performing domestic labor—washing dishes, changing diapers, doing laundry—suggesting role reversals and the joke that modern married men work constantly at home. Overall, the piece satirizes how 1920s marriage had become a financial and domestic treadmill rather than a romantic union.

# "Caught with the Goods" This political cartoon depicts an authority figure (likely a police officer or official, given his dark uniform and stern expression) confronting a small child caught in an apparent act of theft or vandalism. The child holds what appears to be stolen goods or contraband, while a "Keep Off the Grass" sign is visible in the scene. The satire likely critiques either law enforcement's harsh treatment of minor offenses or, conversely, childhood misbehavior and lack of discipline. The stark contrast between the intimidating adult and vulnerable child emphasizes the cartoon's moral point. Without additional context from Judge magazine's publication date and surrounding articles, the specific political or social target remains unclear, though the image suggests commentary on justice, authority, or parental responsibility.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This Judge magazine page contains three separate stories/cartoons: 1. **Top cartoon**: A gentle joke about a child mishearing religious instruction—the reverend explained Noah loaded animals "two by two," but the girl (Effie) understood he "bent them in twos." 2. **"Just Different"**: A short story satirizing artistic pretension. An affected painter (Alonzo) poses a farm girl (Sarah Maud) for an exhibition piece, treating her as mere subject matter while considering her "bourgeois." She's unmoved by him, marries the practical Bill instead, and never thinks of the artist again. The satire mocks the artist's self-importance and disconnection from reality. 3. **"Sonny"**: A prohibition-era story about federal agents tracking a moonshine still in the Appalachian mountains. A boy guides them, then demands payment before revealing the final location, implying he'll rob them ("you ain't comin' back!")—suggesting rural resistance to federal enforcement. The page reflects early 20th-century concerns: religious education, artistic pretension, and bootlegging during Prohibition.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This 1920s *Judge* magazine article by Heywood Broun celebrates country fairs as authentic American entertainment, with illustrations by Clive Weed. The piece humorously describes fair competitions: trotting races (where poorly-trained horses comically break into gallops), carnival games like guessing beans in jars, and ring-toss contests. Most strikingly to modern readers, Broun openly discusses the now-infamous "Hit the Nigger" booth—a racist carnival game where fairgoers threw balls at Black targets. He acknowledges its removal as "justly" requested by legislators, claiming no one was actually hit. He then trivializes this racist entertainment by comparing it favorably to safer modern alternatives like throwing balls at Kewpie dolls. The casual tone normalizing racial violence reflects the era's casual racism, even among ostensibly progressive publications. The piece unwittingly documents how dehumanizing entertainment was standard fair fare, presented as innocent fun rather than the racist violence it represented.

# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains two distinct pieces of satire: **"Three Shots for a Nickel"** critiques Japanese cultural practices through the lens of an American shooting gallery. The author visits a Japanese-run arcade and receives identical prizes regardless of skill level, initially outraged at this "unfair" system. However, he eventually recognizes the philosophy as idealistic—paraphrasing Marx's "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." The satire mocks both American competitive capitalism and the author's gradual, bemused acceptance of communist-adjacent principles in an unexpected context. **"Telephone Pretense"** depicts an unemployed lawyer, John Hemmingway, faking a lucrative business call to impress a potential client who enters his empty office. The joke exposes the performance of success—he fabricates deals and importance through theatrical phone conversation to appear professionally established, revealing the gap between appearance and reality in business. Both pieces use humor to critique American values: competitiveness, status-seeking, and the performance of success.

# Judge Magazine: "Please Pass the Laurel!" This page awards satirical "laurels" (honors) to two entertainers: **Marie Tempest** (upper right): A stage actress praised for her performance in "The Serpent's Tooth," a play. The satire mocks her talent by suggesting she has made Shakespeare's famous line "The Play's the Thing" seem irrelevant—her personality overshadows the dramatic text itself. **Robert Flaherty** (lower left): A filmmaker whose documentary "Nanook of the North" (about Arctic Inuit life) was apparently popular. The satire ridicules the film's influence, joking that audiences now view the Arctic as a practical solution to American urban overcrowding, when it actually depicts extreme living conditions. Both entries use exaggerated praise to mock contemporary celebrity culture and the outsized influence of stage and film entertainers on public imagination. The "laurel" is ironic recognition of their cultural impact, whether deserved or not.

# George Jean Nathan's Theater Page: "The Latest Batch" This is theater critic George Jean Nathan's review column. The header illustration shows three theatrical figures in exaggerated poses amid money, representing the commercial chaos of Broadway production. Nathan reviews three shows with characteristic acerbity: 1. **George White's "Scandals"** — criticized as derivative of Ziegfeld's "Follies," saved only by Paul Whiteman's jazz band. Nathan argues the elaborate staging and chorus girls cannot mask lack of originality or interesting talent. 2. **"I Will if You Will"** — a sex farce/crime play by Crane Wilbur, dismissed as recycled theatrical clichés (stolen necklaces, mistaken bedrooms, comic drunks). Nathan acidly notes Wilbur works in movies, suggesting the play's cheapness reflects cinema's "literary garbage." 3. **"The Torch Bearers"** — by George Kelly (review continues off-page). Nathan's satire targets Broadway's commercial formula: lavish spectacle substituting for wit, and producers' bafflement at poor box office despite their tired conventions. The tone is sophisticated mockery of theatrical mediocrity.

# "Told at the 19th Hole": Golf Stories from Judge Magazine This page presents two humorous golf anecdotes typical of Judge's satirical content. The first story mocks working-class Irish immigrants through "Pat," a golf course caretaker who refuses to work alongside a wealthy golfer lacking a union card—a pointed jab at labor organizing and class tensions of the era. The second, "Twa Golfers," contrasts two players' responses to golf frustrations: Jones cheats when frustrated but rationalizes it; Brown cheats but celebrates his "luck." The satire targets golf's pretension and the absurdity of how wealthy men rationalize poor sportsmanship. The photograph shows the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio—a real country club—establishing this as insider commentary on elite leisure culture. The "19th hole" (the bar) framing device suggests these are tall tales told by club members, reinforcing Judge's mockery of upper-class golf culture's self-deception and moral flexibility. The humor relies on readers' familiarity with golf clubs and their social hierarchies.

# Page Analysis: Judge Magazine This page contains three separate humorous anecdotes: 1. **"Golfer Gets a Three On Drive Into Lake"**: A golfer at Poland Spring, Maine drives into a water hazard but, rather than take a penalty, rows out to a rowboat, moves a seat, and plays his ball from the boat bottom—technically scoring a three. The heading poses a satirical question: whether golf rules permit training animals to retrieve balls from water hazards. 2. **Upper Berth Story**: A traveling mining company president is awakened by his upper-berth neighbor complaining about his snoring, which the president dismisses by saying "don't believe everything that you hear." 3. **Bottom Cartoon**: Two men discuss Marconi receiving a medal. One (Tony, appearing Italian by name) notes Italians give medals for achievements, while the other sarcastically responds that winning an "open championship" is more valuable—satirizing the gap between individual honors and major sporting accomplishments. The page satirizes class pretension, golfing absurdities, and ethnic attitudes toward achievement and recognition.