Judge, 1938-12 · page 3 of 41
Judge — December 1938 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page is primarily **advertising, not satire or political commentary**. It promotes the Book-of-the-Month Club's membership offer. The advertisement features **Thomas Mann**, the renowned German-American novelist (identified by portrait and name), whose novel *Joseph in Egypt* is being offered as a free "book-dividend" to new club members. The pitch emphasizes that for every two books purchased monthly, members receive one book free. The visual shows an array of bound volumes to suggest the club's literary offerings. The appeal targets educated, middle-class readers interested in serious literature—Mann was a prestigious, Nobel Prize-winning author whose work conveyed cultural sophistication. This represents **1920s-30s consumer marketing**: using celebrity endorsement and subscription incentives to build membership in a cultural institution.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TF Siem BMAD ALL THESE BOOKS WERE DISTRIBUTED among members of the Book-of-the-Month Club We cueny two books-of-the-month you buy THOMAS MANN a novel more praised by critics than any work of fiction in 1938. Joseph in Bappt By Thomas Mann IN TWO VOLUMES + BOXED RETAIL PRICE $5.00 EW works of literature have received more general praise than this novel, whose author is perhaps the world’s leading man of lewers today. JOSEPH IN EGYPT is the latest book- dividend selected for free distribution among Book-of-the-Month Club members, and one more striking example of how advantageous it is for book-lovers to belong to the Club, Mail the cou- pon at the right, if you are interested in joining. THE JUDGE FOR DECEMBER 'VERY two months the Book-of-the-Month Club E distributes a valuable library volume free, as a book-dividend. Those above—a few of the many given in the past to members—are merely presented as an illustration of the kind of book gi Asa member, you would receive a book-dividend for every two books-of-the-month you purchased. If you watch best-seller lists, you will observe that the book-of-the-month is always among the most popular current books. Ordinarily ic is a book you are anxious not to miss. Whenever this is the case, obviously you benefit enormously by buying it from the Club—because of the unique book-dividend sys- tem, Last year over $2,500,000 worth of books were distributed free—among the Club's members. will put aside a copy of JOSEPH IN EGYPT. We will then at once send you a booklet outlining what the Book-of-the-Month Club does for book-readers and how such enormous values can be given to you. There are no fees for joining, and you pay no fixed sum per year. All you need do is buy four books a year from the Club, If, after reading the booklet, you decide to join the Club, we shall send you the two-volume edition of JOSEPH IN EGYPT being held for you. Over 175,000 book-reading families—composed of just such dis- cerning but busy readers as yourself—now use this sensible, thorough and economical means of keeping up with the best new books, But, please understand, you are never obliged to take the book-of-the-month our j Nor are you expected to buy y month, All iraportane new books are very carefully reported upon. As a member you can do one of three things in any month: order the book-of-the-month; order some other new book you are particu- larly anxious not to miss; or, instruct the Club not to send you any book at all. The simple offer we make here is this: mail the inquiry coupon at the right, and we BOOK.OF-THE-MONTH CLUB, Inc. 385 Madison Avenuc, New York, N. Y. Book-ofthe-Month Club operates. This request involves me in no obligation to subscribe to your service. It is understood that if decide to join I will receive a free copy of JOSEPIL IN. FGYPT Name & Address City Business Connections, if any Official Position o Occupation —___________ este shiped to Canadian mamiers, DUTY PAID, rough Henk -f the Manth Cu (Canada) Lid PLrAasr send me without cost, a booklet outlining how the comicbooks.com