Judge, 1924-08-16 · page 2 of 36
Judge — August 16, 1924 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Contest No. 33 (August 1924) This is a "Fifty-Fifty Contest" — Judge magazine's humor competition offering a $25 prize for the cleverest second line to a joke setup. The cartoon shows an artist painting outdoors while a young girl watches. She asks, "Why do you prefer oil?" The contest invites readers to complete the artist's response. The humor likely plays on the double meaning of "oil" — both the painting medium and petroleum/crude oil, or possibly references the artist's motivation (financial gain, romantic interest, etc.). Without seeing the winning answer published later, we can't know the intended punchline, but the setup relies on viewers understanding artistic practice and finding an unexpected, clever twist. This format was typical popular entertainment in 1920s magazines, crowdsourcing humor from readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
second line for this joke? The Girl—Why do you prefer oil? The Artist JUDGE’S FIFTY-FIFTY CONTEST No. 33 UDGE will award a prize of $25 for the cleverest second line in the above conversation. Study the situation, the characters, and their expressions, and then write the funniest, snappiest line you can think of. In case two or more persons submit the same winning line, $25 will be awarded to each. Any reader of Judge may compete. Any number of lines may be submitted but none will be returned. No. 33 Contest closes August 26, 1924. The winning answer will appear in the September 27, 1924, issue of Judge. Check will be mailed to the Prize Winner on that date. In the meantime, No. 34 will appear next week. Write one line on a POSTCARD, sign your name and mail to Fifty-Fifty Editor of Judge, 627 West 43d Street,.New York City. All answers, to be considered, must be received not later than August 26. comicbooks.com