Judge, 1933-01 · page 2 of 36
Judge — January 1933 — page 2: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is **not a satirical cartoon** but rather a **trade advertisement** for Powers Reproduction Corporation, a printing/engraving equipment manufacturer. The page promotes their new "Stripfilm Camera" and "Automatic Deep-Etching Unit" as revolutionary technological advances for advertising agencies and print shops. The images show workers operating this equipment. The "satire" here is gentle corporate self-promotion: the headline "Look at 'em—They're News" frames the machines as newsworthy innovations. The text emphasizes that this equipment produces uniform, high-quality printing plates without the variable quality issues caused by different workers. For modern readers: this represents 1940s-era industrial advertising celebrating automation and technological improvement in the printing industry—a common Judge magazine feature during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ook at bm “They ews Above: Powers’ Revolutionary New Stripfilm Camera. Left: Powers’ New Automatic Dee-Etching Unit. Powers’ New Engraving Equipment as Causing a Lot of Talk |e “open house” at Powers’ Engraving Plants. Busy agency men are finding time to visit them and are going away amazed at what they see. Why? Because new, revolutionary machines vital to agency production work ... are operating there... turning out better plates. Look at that camera... it’s a Stripfilm... does away with the old “wet-plate” type. No more slow plate preparations. Negatives run through it on rolls... ‘shooting’ of copy is continuous. What advantage has it besides speed? Just this eit turns out negatives absolutely uniform in quality, regardless of which shift is at work. And look at the machine in the insert... that’s Powers’ Automatic Deep-Etching Unit. Into the acid “baths” go the plates... not one ata time... but many flats together. Every one comes out exactly alike, halftones deeply etched with clean bottoms . . . tops of lines and typematter perfect... sides etched straight down. The hazard of varying ability in workmen on the same job is eliminated. Powers’ equipment does it...and does it right. Better plates are being made! Powers is making them. Advertisers and their agencies are finding that out. Call PEnnsylvania 6-0600. POWERS REPRODUCTION CORPORATION, 205 WEST s9th STREET, NEW YORK comicbooks.com