The contest is very similar to those that are featured in the book and movie "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio". It is a true story of a mother who, having little money and a large family to care for, entered every high-stakes jingle contest there was from the early 50s until they went out of style in the mid 60s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pri...Defiance,_Ohio
Typically, if she won something like the Motorola, it would have been sold for cash.