Judge, 1929-12-21 · page 9 of 36
Judge — December 21, 1929 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Radio Christmas Carol Satire This is Arthur Lippmann's parody of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," mocking radio advertising's invasion of Christmas programming. The cartoon depicts heaven's angels reduced to shilling commercial products on a fictional "Station XYZ." The satire targets radio stations' relentless product placement during the holiday season: Eureka vacuum cleaners, Rosen's screens, mock-turtle soup, Fineberg's apparel, and Cougher's cough medicine interrupt sacred carols. The final stanza references Helen Morgan, a popular cabaret singer, suggesting the stations replace hymns with secular entertainment. The joke: listeners desperately wish the angels—and their advertising—would "sign off" so they could actually experience "peace on earth." This reflects 1920s-30s frustration with American commercial radio's unapologetic commodification of Christmas tradition, turning religious observance into mere advertising vehicles.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
or Oo” hark the herald angels sing From Station XYZ, But peace on earth they do not bring y 4% l} Mu Nowy ae Y a) = On Christmas Eve to me. s 1 i\ a /} iW \\ VA <a From 5 to 6 they loudly praise | \ : Eureka home-baked beans; : \ From 6 to 7 sing their lays For Rosen’s Rustless Screens, ut fi Ks \ TH 8 o'clock they boop-a-doop \ For dial-twisting fans The merits of mock-turtle soup In sanitary cans. They sing till 9 for Fineberg’s fine Installment Plan Apparel, And then for Cougher’s Anodyne The herald angels carol. Tre hymns they render after ten Are not played on an organ— They’re more the kind that gentlemen Prefer from Helen Morgan. Our hats to herald angels doff And praise them for their worth, The while we pray that they'll sign off So we'll have peace on earth! : SOmicbooks*com