Judge, 1928-10-20 · page 26 of 36
Judge — October 20, 1928 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **contest advertisement**, not a political cartoon. Judge magazine is running a word-puzzle competition where readers create "Scotchograms"—extremely condensed telegraph messages using creative, euphonious words to convey meaning in the fewest possible words. The example shows "I vowel turnover anew leaflets forgiven forget" condensing to "I vow I will turn over a new leaf, let's forgive and forget." The contest runs 16 weeks (August-November) with $1,000 in total prizes. Entries must be sent via Western Union telegram. The appeal combines **wordplay cleverness with practical economy**—mirroring the real-world cost-savings of sending brief telegrams. The playful header language ("SAWYER BETTER SNAP," "DEMUR YOU SEND DEBATER") itself demonstrates the condensed style being promoted, creating a self-referential advertisement that models its own product.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
FIVE WEEKS MORE OF Judge’s Scotchogram Contest SAWYER BETTER SNAP IN TWIT! DEMUR YOU SEND DEBATER YOUR CHANCES TO WINDY BIG PRIZE The idea of a Scotchogram is to send a wire THIS ISA SAMPLE with as few SCOTCHO- words as possi- ble by the use GRAM GaRns TIC of euphonious (or krazy- krack) words as exemplified on the right. In this Scotcho- gram (when translated) thirteen words have been sent for the price of seven. I VOWEL ‘TURNOVER ANEW LEAFLETS FORGIVEN FORGET VIRGINIA S. Translation of ALL WORDS sample Scotch- MUST BE ogram: I vow AUTHEN- I will turn over a new leaf let’s forgive and for- get. Can you make one up? MORTON Richmond, Va. There is still plenty of time, and the last one in may win a prize. $1,000.00 IN PRIZES 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 . This contest runs for sixteen weeks. It began Aug. 4th and will close midnight, Nov. 24th. . The shortest and cleverest Scotchograms that say the most in the fewest words will receive the prizes, The Editors of Junce will be the Judges. . Each week, beginning August 4th, several of the best Scotchograms will be printed. $5 apiece will be paid for these, and they will also be eligible for prizes the same as the ones not printed. . Contestants may submit as many Scotchograms as they wish. ALL SCOTCHOGRAMS MUST BE SENT IN BY WESTERN UNION WIRE. . DO NOT SEND SCOTCHOGRAMS COL- LECT! THEY WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. 7. Scotchograms can be sent by full rate Telegram, Day Letter, Night Message or Night Letter. Each wire must bear the name and address of the contestant. Foreign readers may send Scotcho- grams by cable. Address SCOTCHGRAM, N. Y. When sending more than one Scotchogram on the same blank separate them by the word “period.” » NO SCOTCHOGRAMS WILL BE RE- TURNED. . The winners will be announced in the December 22nd issue of JupcE and prize checks will be sent to the winners on that date. . Wire all Scotchograms to SCOTCHOGRAM EDITOR, Judge Publishing Co., Inc., 627 W. 43rd St., New York City. comicbooks.com