Judge, 1925-12-19 · page 3 of 39
Judge — December 19, 1925 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine: "Great $99,000 Title Contest!" This page is primarily a **contest advertisement**, not political satire. Judge magazine is running a humorous "title guessing" contest with substantial prizes ($77,000 for first place) for readers who cannot guess the magazine's cover title. The cartoon illustrates the contest's absurdity: a harried puzzle editor at his desk is mobbed by contestants demanding help. The sign lists other Judge puzzles ("Grabloids," "Missing Word," "Cute Sayings"), suggesting the magazine regularly ran such contests. The joke targets the **contest-obsessed culture of Depression-era magazines**, which used prize competitions to boost circulation. The cartoon mocks both the publisher's desperation to attract readers and the public's competitive fever for free money—a timely satire of economic anxiety during hard times.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
cy ociety of II secure nd spec the cost ges $SFSSESS $F$ HFS KSRS SHES EEE SE SE SB SF JUDGE'S GREAT $99,000 TITLE CONTEST! PRIZES FOR EVERYONE! TRY AND GET ONE! First Prize—$77,000 to the one who cannot guess the title of the cover on this issue. Second Prize—$66,000.06. Third Prize—$55,000.05 10,000 Fourth Prizes of $33.33 each! CONDITIONS—IF ANY Should two or more persons be unable to guess the same winning title, they would be terribly dumb! The contest closes day before yesterday, Eastern Standard Time. The winners will not be announced in the next issue. Study the girl, study the cat. What is it the cat has in its mouth? After you are convinced you are unable to guess the title, write a ten-word essay on why JupGE is the World’s Wittiest Weekly and read it aloud on some prominent street corner. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ DON’T FORGET—CONTEST CLOSES DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY! $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ INFOR MATION “Neat door. I’m the puzzle editor here.” “Just the man! Been trying to find the news in this sheet, can you help me?” $SsSsssSssss S$ Sss $$ $SEHE HE FS $$ comicbooks.com