Judge, 1928-08-25 · page 28 of 36
Judge — August 25, 1928 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily a **contest advertisement** rather than political satire. Judge magazine is running a sixteen-week competition (August–November) offering $1,000 in prizes for "Scotchograms"—a word-economy concept where contestants craft telegram-style messages using phonetic or unusual word choices to convey maximum meaning in minimum words, reducing telegraph costs. The sample Scotchogram shown translates standard congratulations into abbreviated form: "Justice minute heard atchoo avenue baby overture house" becomes "Just this minute heard that you have a new baby over at your house congratulations." The contest rules are straightforward: entries submitted via Western Union wire, judged on brevity and cleverness, with weekly printed selections earning $5 each plus eligibility for larger prizes ($500 first place down to $25 for fourth-eleventh places). This reflects early-twentieth-century concerns about **telegraph costs**—a significant communication expense before widespread telephone adoption—making word economy genuinely practical rather than merely humorous.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Judge’s Scotchogram Contest $1,000.00 SCOTCH THIS ISA ALL WORDS GRAM Contest Runs Twelve More Weeks Jump in now with your Scotchograms! TIC GRAMS ‘E MINUTE ARD ATCHOO d NUE BABY OVERTURE HOUSE CONGRATULATIONS JOHN DOE 36 Main St. The idea of a Scotchogram is to send a wire with as few words as possible by the use of euphonious (or krazykrack) words as exem- plified on the right. In this Scotch ogram (when translated) fifteen words have been sent for the price of nine. Translation of above Scotch baby ov m—Just this minute heard that you have a new Can you make up one? erat your house congratulations. Judge Will Pay $1,000.00 in Prizes for Clever Scotchograms FIRST PRIZE $500.00 © SECOND PRIZE $200.00 THIRD PRIZE $100.00 FOURTH TO ELEVENTH PRIZES $25.00 EACH In addition JUDGE will pay $5.00 apiece for each Scotchogram printed during the course of the contest and these will also be eligible for prizes. In case two or more contestants submit the same prize winners, each will receive the prize. RULES OF CONTEST 1. This contest runs for sixteen weeks. It began 7. Scotchograms can be sent by full rate Telegram, Aug. 4th and will close midnight, Nov. 24th. Day Letter, Me: c or Night Letter. Each wire must bear the name and address of the contestant. — Fore grams by cab N.Y. When sending more than one Scotchogram 3. Each week, beginning August 4th, several of the on the same blank separate them by the word best Scotchograms will be printed. $5 apiece will “period.” be paid for these, and they will also be eligible for : a — eT prizes the same as the ones not printed. 8 RO eae CHOGRAMS WILL BE RE- iS) . The shortest and cleverest Scotchograms that say the most _in the fewest words will receive the prizes. The Editors of Jupce will be the Judges. 4. Contestants imay submit as: many Scotchograms'2s 9 apie cinners will’ Besannounced ia the December ; 22nd issue of June and prize checks will be sent . ALL SCOTCHOGRAMS MUST BE SENT to the winners on that date. IN BY WESTERN UNION WIRE. wn 19. Wire all Scotchograms to SCOTCHOGRAM 6. DO NOT SEND SCOTCHOGRAMS COL- EDITOR, Judge Publishing Co., Inc., 627 W. LECT! THEY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. 43rd St., New York City. es tee comicbooks.com