Judge — December 6, 1924

# "Who's Who in Judge" - Percy Leo Crosby This page profiles Percy Leo Crosby, a prominent artist and illustrator of the early 1920s. The photograph shows him posing with his artist's palette beside an easel displaying one of his landscape paintings. The accompanying text humorously describes Crosby as a versatile "all-around artist of both continents" who paints and creates lithographs. It includes a joke about his mustache—explicitly stating he *doesn't* use it to paint landscapes, a humorous denial suggesting readers might have made that assumption. The biographical details note his Brooklyn birth, early commitment to art, World War I service as a captain, and subsequent prolific career illustrating for major magazines including Scandinavian publications. This appears to be a lighthearted celebrity profile typical of Judge's "Who's Who" feature.

# Analysis of "Judge Wants to Know" Cartoon This 1924 Judge magazine cartoon satirizes Prohibition enforcement. A police officer blocks a citizen from leaving his home, claiming "The air is like wine"—a sarcastic reference to the environmental effects of Prohibition-era bootlegging and home alcohol production. The three "wants to know" questions above mock the absurdities of Prohibition: - Why taxi-meters jump twenty cents as you arrive - What to tell a telephone girl to get her mail - What happened to old-fashioned people whose idea of a wild evening was a lunch game The cartoon ridicules both police overreach and the widespread illegal alcohol production that characterized Prohibition, suggesting that even the air itself smells of illicit fermentation. It's social commentary on the law's unpopularity and ineffectiveness.

# Analysis The main cartoon shows a woman examining an Egyptian mummy while a man and child look on. The caption reads: "Oh! I see you have acquired an Egyptian mummy!" / "No. That's my husband. He tried to paper the house himself." **The joke**: This is domestic humor mocking incompetent DIY home improvement. The husband's botched wallpapering job has left him looking mummified—wrapped in strips of paper. The satire targets male pride in attempting household tasks without proper skill or help, a common theme in early-20th-century American humor. The page also contains unrelated humorous pieces ("Nuts to Crack," "Funnybones," and "Even in Winter") that are various short jokes and verses typical of *Judge* magazine's satirical content.

# Page Analysis This page contains two separate humorous cartoons satirizing domestic life and social conventions of the era (likely early 20th century based on style). **Top cartoon**: A woman complains to a male author that his satirical book made her "sides ache" from laughing. He responds he's glad she enjoyed his satire, as he wanted readers to "sleep on it"—suggesting his work was intended as serious social criticism, not mere entertainment. **Bottom cartoon**: A husband questions his wife about her newly bobbed hair, asking whether she'll let it grow back. This satirizes the 1920s fashion controversy surrounding bobbed hair—a symbol of women's liberation and changing social norms that conservatives found shocking. Both cartoons gently mock contemporary social anxieties: intellectual pretension and generational shifts in women's appearance and autonomy.

# Analysis of This Judge Magazine Page **Top Cartoon ("Puzzle Picture"):** Shows a glamorous woman in a nightclub setting. The caption asks "Who is going to be fired Saturday?" This appears to be a social satire about workplace romance or scandal in the Jazz Age—likely suggesting someone will face consequences for improper conduct. **"Even Then" Story:** References Nero and Rome burning, comparing it to a modern insurance sales pitch about fire damage in Rome. The humor lies in the absurdity of selling fire insurance during catastrophe—a satire on aggressive salesmanship and commercialism. **"Essay on Radio":** Praises radio as a wonderful invention while criticizing a loud speaker in the next room, satirizing how technology creates new annoyances. **"Funnybones" Cartoon:** Shows domestic chaos—a humorous domestic scene satirizing family life and accidents, with the caption suggesting a clock fell from a window.

# Cartoon Analysis This satirical cartoon from *Judge* magazine mocks a woman named Mrs. Pinkey for her social climbing and moral flexibility. The caption reports she's a "gold digger" who accepted "satin post cards from Michael Toohey" and then went to the movies with a foreman—apparently trading romantic favors for gifts. The humor targets women perceived as mercenary in romantic relationships, a common trope in early-to-mid 20th century satire. "Gold digger" specifically refers to women who pursued men for money rather than genuine affection. The cartoon ridicules Mrs. Pinkey's apparent willingness to socialize with different men of varying social status in exchange for small luxuries, presenting her as unprincipled and opportunistic.

# Judge Magazine Page Analysis This page contains humor pieces satirizing everyday professional and social grievances from the early 20th century. **"Revenge Is Sweet"** by Horace Woodmansee presents a chain-of-comeuppance theme: the telephone operator who fumbles calls, the doctor who overcharges, the plumber who overcharges the doctor, the landlord who exploits tenants—all eventually face similar mistreatment from others. It's satirical social commentary suggesting cosmic justice through mutual exploitation. The final examples (the "Mah Jongg" reference, the radio seller) extend this to consumer frustrations of the era. **The cartoon at top** depicts a street fight between two men, with one saying he "just had one"—a joke about habitual fighting or quarrels. **"Funnybones"** offers a pun on "puncture" (a tire blowout producing profanity), with an illustration of a confrontation using period dialect. **The right column** contains brief jokes about infidelity, women's smoking etiquette, tanning, congressional transparency, and divorce settlements (specifically Liberty Bonds, likely WWI-era investments). The overall tone mocks professional services, gender relations, and consumer frustrations typical of the 1920s era.

# Analysis of This Judge Magazine Page This page satirizes the absurdities of suburban commuting in early 20th-century America. "Professor Blotter," an inventor of trivial gadgets, attempts to solve train overcrowding with characteristically impractical solutions—designing railway cars with detachable sides or organizing "elimination contests" where commuters race down aisles. The satire targets both technological overconfidence and the very real frustration of commuter bottlenecks caused by slow elderly passengers blocking exits. The accompanying humor pieces mock courtship and generational ignorance. "Dotty Declares" comments on women's limited autonomy in dating. The "Funnybones" quips contrast sailors' romantic prospects with college men's. "Poor Prospects" ridicules young flappers' ignorance—they confuse "octogenarian" with a disease because older people "always dying." The bottom illustration depicts a catastrophic multi-car pileup, humorously visualizing what would happen if historical figures attempted modern transportation. Overall, the page combines gentle mockery of commuting frustrations, technological pretension, and youth culture.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Cartoon This is a satirical cartoon depicting a street scene where chewing gum litter has created chaos. The title "If the Chewing Gum Habit Gets Any Worse" suggests social commentary on a growing consumer trend. The cartoon shows numerous people scattered across a sidewalk, many appearing to slip or fall on discarded gum. Workers with tools attempt cleanup while others struggle to walk. The scene is deliberately exaggerated—gum appears everywhere as small dots on the pavement. The satire mocks both the chewing gum habit's popularity and public littering. This likely dates to the early-to-mid 20th century when mass-produced chewing gum became common and ubiquitous street litter was a genuine urban concern. The cartoon warns of societal decline through an absurdist lens, using gum as a symbol of consumer carelessness and its public consequences.

# "A Use for Weather" by Don Herold This is a humorous essay reviewing J.B.S. Haldane's futuristic book "Daedalus." Herold discusses Haldane's prediction that in 400 years, England will harness wind power via metallic windmills to generate electricity and decompose water into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel—making weather "useful" at last. The satire lies in Herold's digression about historical religious violence. He notes that more men have died for tobacco smoking at the hands of Sikhs, Senussis, and Wahhabis (whose religions forbid the practice) than died under Roman persecution of Christians. The joke: it's darkly comforting that humanity has *always* been absurdly serious about controlling others' behavior—religious intolerance isn't modern. The cartoon below shows men gathering laundry in Balbriggan, Ireland, with the caption "NOW YOU TELL ONE"—likely a joke about the town's textile industry (Balbriggan linen was famous). Two small "Funnybones" gag boxes appear, including one about the K.K.K. not being in clocks.