Judge — June 2, 1928

# Johnston & Murphy Shoe Advertisement This is a straightforward **advertisement, not satire or political commentary**. It promotes Johnston & Murphy shoes for men, manufactured in Newark, New Jersey. The ad emphasizes that men routinely consult J&M models for fashion guidance across various occasions—sports, business, and formal wear. The imagery depicts a golf scene at East Lake Club in Atlanta, Georgia, showing well-dressed men at leisure. The featured product is "The New Golf Oxford, Style No. 309," described as having spike soles in pliable tan calfskin for durability and comfort on the golf course. This represents early 20th-century advertising strategy: associating quality footwear with aspirational leisure activities and social status among affluent men.

# "Judging the News" - June 27, 1928 This satirical section mocks contemporary news stories. The main cartoon depicts a domestic scene: a man kicks a small figure (labeled "Father") out a door while holding a young woman, who protests "Maybe you ought to go soon—father is kicking you out!" and he replies "Alright, I'd girl, I know you wouldn't lie." The joke satirizes changing social mores in the 1920s—specifically young couples' unsupervised time together and a suitor's casual disregard for parental authority. The "father" being literally small and powerless emphasizes how traditional parental control had weakened during the Jazz Age. The text above references frivolous wealthy pastimes (London bottle parties), military expenses, golf trips, and a buried cement block—typical examples of news Judge ridiculed as absurd or wasteful.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains four separate satirical cartoons: 1. **Top left**: A couple arguing about a man's thin hair—the barber defends his work, calling the result "the CRAZIEST things." 2. **Top right**: A shark threatens a tiny person, saying "My dear young friend, calm yourself—I'm a man-eating shark." This appears to be a humorous visual pun about predatory behavior. 3. **Bottom left**: Two men in hats observe someone entering a building marked "ROOMS," captioning "I take a brisk walk every night for my health"—likely satirizing infidelity or secret activities disguised as exercise. 4. **Bottom right**: A proposed national emblem for summer months showing a baseball flag design, appealing to baseball fans' priorities. The page demonstrates Judge's variety of social and domestic humor targeting early 20th-century American audiences.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains several satirical cartoons commenting on early 20th-century domestic life and social conventions. **Top panels** ("Dandelions of 1918 and 1928"): Compare yard maintenance across decades, suggesting changing standards or laziness. **Hotel Souvenir-Collector cartoon**: A hotel porter jokes with a guest about stealing linens and pillows rather than purchasing souvenirs—satirizing petty theft by travelers. **Father's Study panel**: Shows a family observing the father in his study, mocking male domestic withdrawal or the sanctuary men created from family life. **Right panel** (dated June 5, 1928): Features dialogue between "Professor Father" and "Jane" about young men's moral standards and conscientiousness, suggesting generational anxieties about youth declining to maintain parental values regarding diligence and propriety. The overall theme reflects 1920s social concerns about changing morality and domestic behavior.

# "Intimate Glimpses of the Boobus Intelligentsius" This satirical cartoon depicts intellectuals meeting to select the best "Book of the Month" Club selection. The title references H.L. Mencken's famous term "Boobus Americanus" (describing average Americans), here mockingly applied to "intelligentsius" — pretentious intellectuals affecting sophistication. The scene shows well-dressed men in a library setting engaged in what appears to be serious deliberation. The satire targets the Book of the Month Club's then-popular practice of having panels of "experts" choose books for subscribers. Judge ridicules these self-appointed arbiters of taste as pretentious pseudo-intellectuals, suggesting their selections reflect affected elitism rather than genuine literary merit. The cartoon mocks both the Club's gatekeeping authority and the vanity of intellectuals who claimed cultural authority over American reading habits.

# Analysis of Judge Magazine Page This page contains two satirical cartoons: **Top cartoon:** A Scotsman in traditional dress is caught in what appears to be a whirlwind or tornado, with the caption "Died (with sense of humor)—Nine-ten-leven-tzel-gazed, I'll diet!" The humor plays on Scottish dialect and likely references a specific death or accident involving a Scotsman, though the exact event is unclear. **Bottom cartoon:** Titled "Noted illustrator testing cigarettes for fake committee," it depicts multiple figures in what appears to be an artist's studio examining cigarettes. The satire likely mocks fraudulent health claims about cigarettes or false advertising testimonials by illustrators paid to endorse products. This reflects early 20th-century skepticism about tobacco industry practices and dubious "scientific" endorsements.

# Explanation for Modern Readers This is a humorous short story titled "Eccentric Uncle Harvey" from *Judge* magazine, a satirical publication. The narrative is largely a fish-themed pun-fest rather than political satire. The basic plot: Uncle Harvey, a sensitive eccentric relative, is suspected of eating the family's goldfish. When accused, he reacts so poorly that the family avoids confronting him. Later, when neighbors' goldfish also disappear and are found stolen at night, the family realizes Uncle Harvey is the culprit—but describe him as a "stalker" rather than a thief, playing on the word "stalk." The bulk of the text consists of elaborate fishing puns (tuna/tunny fish wordplay, references to "mackerel," "kipper," "flounder," etc.) that are clearly meant to demonstrate the author's wit through extensive fish-related double entendre. The cartoon at bottom shows the family trying to conceal fish odors by burning incense indoors—the visual punchline to Uncle Harvey's ongoing aquatic thievery. The humor relies entirely on puns and absurdist character comedy, not contemporary political commentary.

# Analysis This is a single satirical cartoon titled "Tommy—Aye, Pa—I wanna drive!" The image depicts an aerial bombardment scene with military aircraft dropping bombs during what appears to be World War I or II. A small child figure is visible among the chaos and destruction below, seemingly wanting to "drive" or operate the bombing aircraft above. The satire appears to criticize either: 1. Child-like or reckless military leadership conducting aerial bombing campaigns, or 2. The normalization of warfare and violence to the point where children aspire to participate in bombing missions The contrast between innocent childhood desire ("I wanna drive") and the horrific reality of aerial bombardment creates dark humor typical of Judge magazine's political satire.

# Judge Page Analysis The main cartoon depicts a car accident where a woman driver (the "Lovely Driver") tells the injured motorcyclist not to mention the incident to her husband, implying she caused the accident through careless driving. This satirizes women drivers as incompetent and irresponsible—a common early 20th-century stereotype. The written pieces are humorous complaint letters: 1. **"An Open Letter"**: A man complains that Old Gold's blindfold taste-test advertising gave his wife ideas to prove she's a good cook. The joke mocks both the advertisement's premise and marital dynamics—his wife is clearly a poor cook, and he resents her ambitions. 2. **"A Safe Disguise"**: A brief joke about wearing deer skin as camouflage for hunting. 3. **"He Knew 'Em"**: A lawyer schedules appointments with a woman client at three and four o'clock, meeting his wife at noon—implying infidelity or dishonesty about his schedule. 4. **"Pollyanna, Incorporated"**: A satirical contrast between a man's grumpy morning complaints and a cheerful radio personality's upbeat morning broadcast—mocking artificial positivity versus reality.

# "Letters From a Song Writer's Mother to Her Son" - Judge Magazine This is a humorous advice column disguised as letters from an old-fashioned mother ("Mommer") to her son, a struggling songwriter. The satire targets early 1920s popular music and domestic life. The mother critiques her son's romantic song "Blue Heaven," wondering why Pittsburgh residents were surprised by the color choice. She rambles through complaints about his love life, comparing his heartbreak to her own marriage to "Popper," a man who once got into a fistfight over a woman and later lost his job on his honeymoon. The humor derives from her contradictory, malaprop-filled wisdom: she claims babies "make more than three" and suggests that having children prevents needing alarm clocks (because babies wake you). She mentions a lawyer friend trying—unsuccessfully—to secure royalties for mothers of songs written about them. The cartoon below shows beachgoers, illustrating domestic leisure themes. The column mocks both sentimental popular songs and small-town American family dynamics of the era.

# "Cutting Down Father's for Willie" This two-panel cartoon satirizes parental indulgence of children. The title references the nursery rhyme "Father's Day Off," and depicts parents literally "cutting down" (altering/repurposing) the father's clothing for their son Willie. **Top panel ("In the Country"):** A woman tailors the father's pants while he stands on a chair, being fitted. **Bottom panel ("In the City"):** A woman sprays/dyes the father's suit jacket to create a children's outfit, with tailoring supplies visible. The satire mocks how wealthy parents sacrifice their own comfort and dignity—even their clothing—to satisfy their children's demands. The "country vs. city" contrast likely emphasizes that this materialistic excess occurs in both settings. It's a critique of child-centered parenting and parental weakness in disciplining or denying offspring.

# Judge Magazine Satire Explanation This is a humorous first-person account by Judge magazine's editor describing his trip to New York for the Society of Illustrators' annual show. The piece mocks illustrators' pretensions and hypocrisies. **The satire targets:** - **Illustrators' claimed idealism**: The author proposes a satirical sketch called "Art for Art's Sake" showing artists claiming to work purely for love of art, symbolized by a dollar sign with nude models and famous illustrators wrapped around it—exposing their actual focus on money and commercial success. - **The show itself**: Featured sketches by notable cartoonists (Rube Goldberg, Dean Cornwall, Frank Godwin, John Held), with the author snarkily dismissing their quality and noting that a sketch about artists preferring models was in "rather bad taste"—implying hypocrisy about aesthetic sensibilities. - **Prohibition-era nightlife**: References Jimmy Walker (NYC mayor) and mocks the 3 a.m. curfew law and "Daylight Saving" affecting nightclubs—suggesting these regulations are ineffective and easily circumvented. The cartoon below illustrates the device from Goldberg's sketch for handling surprise spousal arrivals.