Judge, 1930-02-15 · page 13 of 36
Judge — February 15, 1930 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Judge Magazine Satire: "Unique Broadcast" This page satirizes **radio boxing commentary** during the early broadcast era (likely 1920s-30s). The unnamed announcer mocks the conventions of live sports radio: vague sponsorship disclaimers, anonymous guests, tedious play-by-play descriptions that all sound identical, and the absurd mystique surrounding "distinguished" arrivals at ringside. The humor targets radio's artificiality—the announcer explicitly refuses to describe the fight blow-by-blow because "every one of these things sounds the same over the radio," admitting the medium itself is inherently repetitive and uninformative. The anonymous guest who says nothing meaningful, the refusal to name sponsors or stations, and the final draw result (guaranteeing another fight and more ads) all mock radio broadcasting's commercial cynicism and theatrical pomposity. The cartoons illustrate the contrast between the excitement of live boxing and the dull reality of hearing it described through a microphone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Unique Broadcast | Bates and gentleme third round of the c' | fight between Kid Wotsis Axel, brought to you through the cour- | tesy of—never mind, we're not adver- tising anything. When the bell rings for the fourth round, it will be exactly ten-fifteen. Well, not exactly, but that's close cnough, and by | whose watch or what make of watch it is, is none of your business. Now that the er, I will turn the micro- r to a fellow who doesn't care to have his name mentioned. And, who do you suppose is sitting ] ] | This is the behind ime here at the ringside? And, who do you suppose cares? | There is some commotion aver on | the other side of the house because , distinguished person has just come in. Anyway, he looks distinguished, } and somet dy is yelling for him to sit s everybody has seen him by | this time. Important people take the est time to get seated. or the bi tuning in we are the only reason th down, tof those who are just prize-fight, and Tam not deserib- ing it blow by blow is that every one of these things sounds the same over the radio. It’s enough for me to say that the two boys are dancing around and punching each other. There they ire in the center of the ring, punching cach other. at the side of h other. Now they're running around the ring, punching cach other. That's all for fifteen rounds. the ring, punc Wait a minute. Here’s a friend of mine, I'll have him say a few words to you. Come on over, Anonymous, ind say hello to the folks, but don’t tell them who you are, because we're Gamnter—Meads not advertising today. (Other voice) : } Hello, folks, this is me. I just wanted | to say I'm here. (Announcer): Well, | you heard him and what he had to say, | and that’s about a consensus of what you'd get if I put a dozen on, one right after the other. Well, folks, the fight’s over and the decision was a draw, That probably ns that both boys will dance around and punch each other again in a few weeks, It’ customers don’t wi are now signing off the studio. And you can have guesses you want as to what station this was broadcast over and who I am, “Oh, yeah? Well take off those glasses and I'll show you!” —R. C. O'Brien W comicbooks.com