Judge — December 29, 1928 — page 18: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This single-panel cartoon satirizes early 20th-century consumer culture and generational attitudes. A mother addresses her discontent daughters, presenting a false choice between two activities: psychoanalysis ("analyze our emotions") and shopping ("go downtown and use the charge account"). The satire targets the contemporary fascination with Freudian psychology—then newly popular in America—by suggesting it's merely an excuse for inaction compared to the "real" solution of spending money. The joke implies that women (particularly wealthy ones with access to charge accounts) prefer shopping to introspection, while also mocking the era's therapeutic trends as pretentious alternatives to practical indulgence. The cartoon reflects Judge magazine's skeptical, satirical take on modern social movements and consumer behavior among the affluent classes.