Judge — November 4, 1922

# "Painting the Lily!" - Judge Magazine Advertisement This is primarily an **advertisement for Judge magazine subscriptions**, not a political cartoon. The title "Painting the Lily" is a phrase meaning to gild or embellish something already perfect—here used ironically. The image shows a figure painting a donkey, satirizing the magazine's claims about its value. The text argues that one dollar spent on Judge subscriptions (Navy Number, Army Number, Thanksgiving Number, Christmas Numbers) provides better value than money spent on luxuries like pearls, motor cars, or golf trips. The satire targets readers' priorities, suggesting they should sacrifice personal luxuries to subscribe to Judge. The "painted lily" reference mocks the exaggerated claims—implying Judge adds unnecessary embellishment to ordinary life. This is essentially a humorous sales pitch wrapped in self-aware satire typical of Judge's promotional style.

# Analysis: Judge Magazine Page This page combines poetry and domestic humor typical of Judge magazine's satirical content. "Again Normal" is a nostalgic poem about autumn and returning to peacetime routines after World War I, with lines like "The papers have printed the final box score." The central illustration and accompanying dialogue piece titled "The Accident" depicts a slapstick domestic scene where a woman has apparently spilled something on a man's clothing. The conversation reveals she's ruined clothes he'd been saving, and they discuss whether to report it to insurance. The humor is gentle, domestic satire about post-war normalcy and middle-class anxieties—insurance claims, clothing care, marital relations—rather than sharp political commentary. This reflects Judge's shift toward lighter material in the early 1920s.

# Analysis This is a humorous instructional page about football rules, explained by John Held, Jr., a prominent cartoonist known for satirizing 1920s society. Rather than political satire, the page uses comedic illustrations to explain various football plays and penalties through exaggerated physical comedy. The vignettes show: - **"A Touchback"** and **"Out of Bounds"**: Players in awkward positions - **"Perfect Interference"** and **"Penalized for Offside Play"**: Bodies tangled or colliding - **"A Drop-Kick"**: Demonstrated with physical humor Held employs his signature style—elongated figures, flapper-era clothing, and slapstick poses—to make abstract football rules accessible and entertaining to readers. This reflects 1920s sports popularization and Held's role as a cultural commentator who made modern leisure activities humorous for mainstream audiences.

# "A Double Pass" - Analysis This is a short story illustrated by Norman Anthony, not political satire. The narrative concerns a young man named Bobby who attends a Harvard-Yale football game and becomes jealous when his girlfriend Yvette receives attention from a rival suitor. The plot hinges on a locket—Bobby gives Yvette a locket to wear, then discovers his rival has an identical one. The story climaxes when Bobby, playing football, deliberately injures his rival on the field. Yvette ultimately chooses Bobby, though he must apologize for his unsportsmanlike behavior. The "double pass" refers both to football plays and the romantic rivalry. This is entertainment fiction aimed at Judge's readers, reflecting early 20th-century attitudes about competitive masculinity and college sports romance.

# Analysis This page from Judge magazine features golf-themed humor rather than political satire. The main content includes: **"If—in Golf"** (left): A humorous poem by Fannie F. B. Clark offering golfing advice in mock-serious tone, suggesting that mastering golf requires composure, skill, and psychological control. **"These Prove It!"** (center): Three anecdotes from golfers describing funny incidents at golf clubs, including a story about a Colonel's car being hit by a golf ball, and tales of unusual animal encounters during games. **Header Image**: Shows Englewood Golf Club in New Jersey, establishing the genteel, upper-class sporting context. The humor relies on golf's popularity among the American leisure class in this era, poking gentle fun at golfers' pretensions and the sport's unexpected mishaps rather than commenting on contemporary politics or social issues.

# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains three separate humorous pieces: **"Scooty Bleat"** presents Scottish dialect golf observations—essentially jokes about golfers' behavior and golf course etiquette, with no specific political content. **"What?"** is a golf rules dispute: Mr. G. hits his ball into mud, extracts it caked with clay on his club face, then drops it in the hole claiming a score of two. The piece asks readers what rule he violated and what he should have done—a reader participation puzzle about golf ethics. **The Rene Clarke cartoon** depicts an elderly man sitting on a bench holding a golf club. The caption reads: "It's a pity our Presidents didn't take up golf before. Think what a bully thing Sculptor Borglum could have done with old Abe giving Seward's topped drive the once-over." This references Mount Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum and humorously suggests if Presidents had golfed earlier, Borglum could have immortalized them in embarrassing golf moments—specifically Abraham Lincoln reacting to a poor golf shot by Secretary of State William Seward. The page is primarily recreational golf humor with mild political satire.

# Heywood Broun's "Philosophies of Football" This is a sports column by Heywood Broun critiquing Harvard's football approach versus romantic football tradition. The sketches show two captains: Captain Buell of Harvard and Captain Jordan of Yale. Broun satirizes Harvard's "system" as overly intellectual and practical—stripping football of its glamour and narrative drama. Traditional college football stories featured quarterbacks as heroes: the undersized underdog, the romantic lead catching his sweetheart's eye in the stands, the player who faints dramatically after scoring. Harvard's system, Broun argues, eliminates this romance. Their quarterback isn't allowed to look at girls or indulge in emotion; he must "think" and prepare cerebrally like an academic rather than perform as a romantic hero. The joke targets Harvard's reputation for intellectualism taken to absurd extremes—even replacing the athletic "H" award with an academic "Phi Beta Kappa key." The contrast with Yale's more traditionally glamorous approach is implicit through the paired illustrations.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This page from *Judge* magazine contains a humorous cartoon and comedic dialogue pieces satirizing early 1920s social life. **The main cartoon** depicts an elegant dinner party where a woman complains of suffering from "jazzma"—a satirical invented ailment combining "jazz" with "asthma." This mocks the then-controversial jazz craze sweeping America, portraying it as something people could humorously "suffer from" like a disease. The Jazz Age was seen by older, conservative Americans as morally suspect and physically overstimulating. **The text pieces** include brief jokes about social climbing (Ralph's pride in crossing Fifth Avenue quickly), pretentious club membership, and a reference to an unclear joke about "Pat and Mike in the tunnel"—likely playing on Irish stereotypes common in era humor. The overall message satirizes both the anxieties older society had about modern jazz culture and the pretensions of the social elite trying to maintain exclusive clubs despite changing times.

# Analysis for Modern Readers This page from *Judge* contains short humorous stories competing for prize money ($10 for first place, $5 for second). The content reflects early 20th-century American attitudes and stereotypes. **First Prize** features a racist caricature of a Black minister in the South using dialect, asking his congregation to choose between three sermon lengths to fund. **Second Prize** depicts two traveling salesmen; the humor derives from a Jewish character (identified by dialect and financial obsession) claiming he broke a dollar bill rather than admitting a collision damaged his belongings. **Other stories** include: a Native American student rejecting George Washington as a role model because "he's dead"; a bright student arguing grammar rules with a teacher; and "Tired Tim," seemingly a tramp character, requesting only basic utensils at a cottage. The cartoon header shows boys discussing the Yale-Princeton football game as too expensive, hoping for connections to get free tickets. Overall, the page reflects period attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and class through ostensibly humorous anecdotes.

# "Malvaloca" by the Equity Players - Judge Magazine This page reviews a theatrical production of the play *Malvaloca* by the Equity Players company. The text describes a Spanish romantic story involving church bells and a foundry, featuring actress Jane Cowl in the title role alongside actor Rollo Peters. The "satire" here is gentle theatrical criticism embedded in witty captions. The reviewer jokes that Peters plays opposite Cowl "but not very far opposite"—likely a suggestive comment about their on-stage proximity or romantic chemistry. The blind character Martin (played by Marshall Vincent) receives praise for understanding his role's potential. The final caption mocks the character Salvador (Frederic Burt) for believing "one may take a woman, but not too seriously"—satirizing the play's casual treatment of seduction or the character's dismissive attitude toward women. This reflects period attitudes about romance and gender that modern readers would recognize as dated. The photographs show scenes from the production.