Judge, 1902-12-20 · page 12 of 52
Judge — December 20, 1902 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three distinct pieces of humor: **"Rock-a-bye, Buggie"** (main illustration): A whimsical parody of the nursery rhyme "Rock-a-bye Baby," reimagined with anthropomorphic insects in a fantastical garden scene. The cradle-in-tree setup is replaced with insects in flowers and landscape elements. It's lighthearted children's humor rather than political satire. **"Drawing a Distinction"**: A gentle joke about a minister receiving carpet slippers as a gift from parishioners. The minister's "bitter smile" suggests mild irony—while the Bible states "it is more blessed to give than to receive," the parishioners are clearly giving *to* him, not the reverse. **"A Bug Joke"**: A pun-based joke where little Willie Centipede jokes that Santa Claus will think the centipede household's many legs hanging to dry constitute "wash-day" rather than Christmas preparations. All three are light domestic humor typical of Judge's family-oriented content, with no apparent political commentary or social satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- O4S-DIRKsS e ROCK-A-BYE, BUGGIE. Rock-a-bye, buggie, upon the tree-top, * When the wind blows the cradle will rock ; When the bough breaks the cradle will fall And down will come buggie and cradle and all. DRAWING A DISTINCTION. A BUG JOKE. S47FT IS more blessed to give than to receive,” assert the parishioners, HE centipede family has completed its preparations for the visit of | _ as they one and all give the good old minister a pair of carpet good Saint Nicholas. \ slippers. “ Ha, ha !” chuckles little Willie Centipede ; Santa Claus will think | “In this case, yes,” acknowledges the good old minister, with just a it is wash-day instead of Christmas day when he comes to our suspicion of a bitter smile. house.” comicbooks.com