Judge, 1925-05-23 · page 11 of 36
Judge — May 23, 1925 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Big Business" Satire Explanation This page satirizes **corporate radio advertising in the 1920s-30s**. The main cartoon mocks how companies used radio to promote products through constant musical performances. The "Corrugated Cruller Company" (a fictional donut manufacturer) accompanies every mundane business activity—signing contracts, preparing statistics, making sales calls, inspecting departments—with sponsored musical ensembles and quartets. The satire targets the absurdity of **commercial radio saturation**: businesses turning ordinary work into entertainment vehicles to advertise their wares to "average radio listeners." Each hour of the executive's day includes a different musical group, suggesting radio's intrusive omnipresence in American life. The surrounding "Funnybones" and "Krazy Kracks" are unrelated gag fillers typical of Judge magazine's format—brief jokes about domestic life, gender relations, and miscellaneous humor. The page essentially critiques early radio's commercialization and how brands weaponized entertainment to reach consumers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
(As It Seems to the Average Radio = 1 | Big Business | | | Listener) TE Acs. Tt president of the Corruga | Cruller Company signs the m accompanied by the Corrugated Cruller Mail Quartet: singing, “In the Sweet Buy and Buy.” 1 pa. ‘The president prepares sales statis- tics, accompanied by the Corru- gated Cruller Little Symphony Orchestra in selections — from “Figaro.” 2 Pa. The president telephones to the customers, accompanied by the Cor- rugated Cruller String Ensemble playing “Hello, Frisco” and “I Hear You Calling Me,” | 3 pom. | The president inspects the shipping department, accompanied by the Corrugated Cruller Glee Club and Save giving office vacations and increase efficiency by making the office looks over the dough mixing depart- over ax an amusement park, ment, accompaned by the Corru- gated Cruller Mixed Quartet. Funnybones Man may be the head of the family but woman buys the hats, The president: leaves for home, accompanied by the Corrugated Chiller Saengerbund singing “Auf- wiedersehn” and “Here's Your Hat— What's Your Hurry? Arthur L. Lippmann He died of heart failure, Did Percival Plop, He got , From a bi Cictgo will poy 85 for och one prevted apis vole Se pay? #5 fo Phyllis was a good girl, | As everybody knew; | Never fresh and never smarty, G however rough the party Phat's why I took Sue. HLK.L. oy What a man’s wife doesn't know, will never hurt Aim! Perl | | oa loves mamma; mamma loves | company. | | | KRALY RACKS | sentence with the word (a | Vain | Youne Wire—You're enmigh to make a girl run away with another man, He—My dear girl, I'm in no mood for flattery! Judee pays $$ for each heary krack printed. [ _ oe | comicbooks.com