Judge: March 19, 1927

An issue of Judge cost 15 cents in 1927, $2.79 in today's dollars. I paid $12.50 for a copy on eBay in August, a five-fold premium for being so far behind in my reading. This is my first purchases of any issue of this particular humor magazine. The March 19 issue looks decidedly hit or miss.

The Latest Dirt

The Weigh of a Woman

Judging the Shows
George Jean Nathan

The Cheer Leaders
John Held, Jr., et al.

The Runarounder
Heywood Broun

Judge, March 19, 1927
eBay listing ended August 31, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/376505113731

Judge, March 19, 1927
eBay item description

Judge, March 19, 1927
eBay bid history
Your blogger shows how it's done.

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James Trembath in College Humor, January 1940

A forgotten magazine cartoon by James Trembath was posted by Michael Maslin on his Ink Spill blog ten days ago after fellow cartoonist Paul Karasik brought it to his attention. The drawing had appeared in the November 18, 1929 issue of Judge and lampooned an ongoing series of manhole drawings by Otto Soglow that were appearing in The New Yorker at the time. The impeccably illustrated discussion appears here.

Trembath was born in Michigan in 1888. He was a regular contributor of covers and cartoons to Judge and other publications, but his work never appeared in Harold Ross's New Yorker. His art isn't that familiar today, but I can share here a couple of obscure cartoons from College Humor, Volume 11, No. 1, the January 1940 issue.

Compared with the sendup of Soglow, I find these to be a little disappointing. Of course, they reflect the attitudes of their time filtered through the sophomoric lens of a magazine aimed at the college crowd:

"Why, no, ma'am—what makes you think there's a cop in the kitchen?"
James Trembath
College Humor, January 1940, p. 13

"It's no use, Inspector, she won't stop talking."
James Trembath
College Humor, January 1940, p. 19

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Robert Day: After the Car is Washed

We've all heard that if you wash your car it is surely going to rain. Perhaps fewer of us knew this piece of folk irony was current as early as 1931 when cartoonist Robert Day used it as the basis for a sight gag in Judge. As seen in the original, his meteorological take on this saying is rather extreme. Doggone! 

"Dawgawn, I knew something like this would happen if I washed the car."
Robert Day
Original art
Judge, 1931

Robert Day
Worthpoint

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/robert-day-1931-judge-gag-cartoon-1861311935

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Frank Hanley: The Christmas Spirit

In case you missed it on the newsstands, here are a few pages of "The Christmas Spirit"-themed issue of Judge from December 13, 1930. The busy and festive three-color cover illustration is by Frank Hanley.

Frank Hanley, The Christmas Spirit
Judge, December 13, 1930

Carl Becker's art deco illustration for Powers Reproduction Corporation, photoengravers, demonstrates that when you're wearing fur you don't need much else.

Carl Becker ad for Powers Reproduction Corporation                    Lenz Bridge Contest                                    
Judge, December 13, 1930, inside front cover and page 1

Ed Graham, "Send up some cracked ice to Mrs. Blitz at the Ritz Towers—her daughter is throwing a début party!"
I. Klein, A Great Moment in the Life of a Chicagoan:  He is mistaken for Al Capone.
Chon Day, "I wonder where the boss put this guy's art work?"
E. Simms Campbell, "Listen—when are we ever going to get heat in our apartment?"
"I dunno—I'm only th' janitor."
Judge, December 13, 1930, pages 8-9

Bruce Bairnsfather, "Alright, leggo now Bert.  She's open!"                     
                                                             "Judging the Movies" by Pare Lorentz
Judge, December 13, 1930, pages 18-19

Jefferson Machamer
Judge, Junior's Christmas Lists
Judge, December 13, 1930, pages 24-25

"Everyone knows that heat purifies and so 20,679 physicians say that Luckies are less irritating to your throat."

Judge, December 13, 1930, back cover

Judge, December 13, 1930
eBay Listing Ended December 13, 2017

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Vintage-JUDGE-Magazine-Dec-13-1930-FRANK-HANLEY-Cover-Art-THE-CHRISTMAS-SPIRT-/182899130347?

Judge, December 13, 1930
eBay Item Description

Note:  At press time, this copy of the magazine is still available on eBay.

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A Chicken in Almost Every Pot: Otto Soglow's New Deal

A series of magazine covers done by cartoonist Otto Soglow for Judge in 1938 offers some insights on how Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was embraced by the press. The covers are all intensely colorful economic parables of the Great Depression executed against a plain white background. The four recurring characters are second-term Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt, a farmer, a worker, and a capitalist, each trying to cope with the dire economic situation. Many an American president might be depicted as the advocate of agriculture, of labor, or of business, but it's unusual even during hard times for a president of either party to be depicted as the champion of all three.

On the April 1938 Judge cover, FDR is drawn as an acrobat on the flying trapeze executing a breathtaking midair catch of the farmer while immobile business and labor look on aghast. The May cover shows the three branches of the economy tangled around the maypole, with the capable President clearly taking charge of the awkward situation. The June cover alludes to the famous political promise of a chicken in every pot, one often incorrectly attributed to Herbert Hoover and embraced by the Republican party back in 1928 during more prosperous times. Note also that each cover depicts the President as physically vigorous and able-bodied, with no reference to the braces he required to stand or the wheelchair he required for mobility.

Otto Soglow
Judge, April 1938

http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-judge-magazine-april-1938.html

Otto Soglow
Judge, May 1938

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Otto Soglow
Judge, June 1938

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  Once again I offer my thanks to Dick Buchanan for providing Attempted Bloggery with two Judge cover scans from the legendary Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. The April cover comes from Mike Lynch Cartoons to which Dick regularly contributes, most recently a post entitled, "Dick Buchanan's Favorite Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1964." See what magazine readers were laughing at during the postwar years with the Depression long behind them.

Otto Soglow was a prolific cartoonist who was especially at home with the wordless gag. Readers are encouraged to contribute scans or photos of original art or of rare published cartoons. I am especially eager to know whether there are any more Judge covers in this FDR series.


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02370

Otto Soglow: Staying Dry

It's January 1931, but you can be forgiven if you don't recognize that the Great Depression is upon us from this Judge cartoon by Otto Soglow. At least we know the importance during Prohibition of keeping dry.

Otto Soglow
Judge, January 1931, page 11

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  My thanks to Dick Buchanan for providing Attempted Bloggery with access to this scan from the world-renowned Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. Dick contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled, "Dick Buchanan's Favorite Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1964." Find out what people were laughing at during the years of the baby boom.

Otto Soglow was a prolific cartoonist with a special flair for the wordless gag. Readers are encouraged to contribute scans or photos of original art, rare published cartoons, and other Sogloviana to this blog. Did I just make up a word?


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02369

Orson B. Lowell on the Football Field

An original oil on canvas by Orson B. Lowell served as a cover illustration for The Elks magazine in October of 1933 and might have been published earlier in Judge or Leslie's. The subject is a football tackle. This tackle is no longer legal because of the risk of neck injury. The sale price ten years ago was $10, 350.

Orson B. Lowell
Original art, The Elks, October 1933

Illustration House June 2, 2007 Auction

http://www.illustration-house.com/recent/a35/a35pages/a35_085.html

http://www.findartinfo.com/english/list-prices-by-artist/8738/orson-byron-lowell.html

Another football illustration by Lowell is available on Etsy from ThisArtGallery for $7,000, which seems a fair price:

Orson Lowell's signature

Orson Lowell
Etsy Listing as of September 24, 2017

https://www.etsy.com/listing/212279581/american-football-oil-painting-orson

Orson Lowell Etsy Item Description

Note:  Does anyone have a copy of The Elks Magazine for October 1933? I'm fresh out, but I'd love to see the cover. I'd also love to hear from anyone who knows whether this illustration was also published in Judge or Leslie's. See, I don't ask for much.

Orson B. Lowell—the B. is for Byron, of course—is new to this blog but he isn't new to the Society of Illustrators. The exhibition Fashion and Satire: The Drawings off Orson Byron Lowell and Charles Dana Gibson is currently on view at the Society through October 28.


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02321

Ninety Years Ago at Your Newsstand

Ninety years ago, the first issue of the New Yorker was at newsstands. It featured Rea Irvin's placidly observant dandy on its cover. This magazine cover is an iconic image today, but in 1925 it must have been an oddity. Why editor Harold Ross thought he could sell his brand new jazz-age magazine by putting a 19th century fop on its cover is anybody's guess. On his Ink Spill blog, Michael Maslin asks this very question and surmises, "I can't help but think that Ross made a very human decision:  art won out over commerce." That's probably as good an answer as we're going to get. Yet the image of Eustace Tilley, as we now call him, is graphically quite powerful. A brief survey of other magazines on the newsstand in February of 1925 shows just how unique the New Yorker already was. Ross, from the very beginning, was determined to succeed against the odds.

Rea Irvin, The New Yorker, February 21, 1925

Cartoons and Movies Magazine wasn't ever a household name, but it sought to capitalize on the hugely-popular silent cinema of the day. The cover gag is rather awkward, but no doubt the woman's see-through dress served to sell the periodical instead. Based on this cover, I would imagine the cartoons inside are awful.

J. E. Dash(?), Cartoons and Movies Magazine, February 1925

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartoons-and-Movies-Magazine-February-1925-/390911634001?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b04262a51

Collier's, at only a nickel, was a far less expensive proposition and a popular choice at the newsstand. But the New Yorker at 15 cents could boast a full color cover on glossy stock.

Artist Unknown, Collier's, February 21, 1925

A Japanese print provided a purely decorative cover for House & Garden without giving any hint of a point of view.

Artist Unknown, House & Garden, February 1925

Ross himself had edited Judge in 1924. This issue, which was on newsstands a couple of weeks before the New Yorker's debut, makes a rather atrocious pun. The New Yorker, happily, was not going to add captions to its cover art.

Artist Unknown, "Snowbody Home!" Judge, February 7, 1925

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JUDGE-MAGAZINE-FEBRUARY-1925-VOLUME-88-SNOWBODY-HOME-RARE-/131418410712?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e9925ced8

Ralph Barton, the New Yorker's first theatre illustrator, was on the cover of Judge the week of the New Yorker's debut with a theatre illustration. Celebrities include George M. Cohan, W. C. Fields, Fanny Brice, Billie Burke, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Ed Wynn, Eddie Cantor, and Al Jolson.

Ralph Barton, "Meet the Editors," Judge, February 21, 1925

Image added April 5, 2015

For your 15 cents, you could purchase either the New Yorker or something called Laughs and Chuckles which sought to find humor in a drunken man sneaking into his home late at night. The drawing on the cover is just awful. 

G. Read, Laughs and Chuckles, February 1925

http://crossword171.rssing.com/chan-8598013/all_p27.html

Ruth Eastman's cover for Liberty shows a young housewife burning dinner. Eastman was an excellent cover artist, but there's not much originality in the handling of this stereotypical subject.

Ruth Eastman, Liberty, February 1925

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/425027283553206766/

If I were Harold Ross, I'd be worried about Life. The cover by John Held, Jr., an acquaintance of Ross's from his Salt Lake City days, is a masterpiece. Unlike the New Yorker's cover, it reflects the winter season, the flapper era, and the allure of youthful romance. Ross was later to make extensive use of Held's talents inside the magazine.

John Held, Jr., "Silly Geese," Life, February 19, 1925

Neysa McMein's cover for McCall's is the sort of appealing image that sold many a family magazine. The painting is sweet, but it's basically just a cute dog and a cute girl. Unlike the example of Collier's, the image appears to have no relation to the novel being serialized in the issue.

Neysa McMein, McCall's, February 1925

Then as now, Hollywood was a popular topic at the newsstand.

[Florence Vidor], Photoplay, February 1925

Redbook, like most other magazines, featured blurbs on its cover advertising the content of this issue. The New Yorker's covers would feature artwork exclusively without any hype. The covers were generally unrelated to the editorial content of the issue, at least until the 1990's.

Edna Crompton, The Redbook Magazine, February 1925

http://www.illustratedgallery.com/artwork/original/2518/by-edna-crompton

In the 1920's many illustrators worked in oils for magazine covers. 

Edna Crompton, Original art, The Redbook Magazine, February 1925

http://www.illustratedgallery.com/artwork/original/2518/by-edna-crompton

The Saturday Evening Post was a force to be reckoned with. Note how much more spirited this cover is than that of the woman burning dinner for Liberty.

James Calvert Smith, "Women's Ice Hockey,"
The Saturday Evening Post, February 21, 1925

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Women-s-Ice-Hockey-Saturday-Evening-Post-Cover-February-21-1925-Posters_i9461757_.htm

St. Nicholas, a minor magazine at best, provides a static seasonal cover.

Artist Unknown, St. Nicholas, February 1925

http://www.ebay.com/itm/St-Nicholas-Magazine-February-1925-/190747721111?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c69733d97

Time Magazine's cover featured a photograph of Owen D. Young. He was the Chairman of General Electric.

[Owen D. Young], Time, February 23, 1925

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Time-Magazine-February-23-1925-Owen-D-Young-/251821856655?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3aa1c0978f

Note:  See my other blog posts about Rea Irvin and John Held, Jr.

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