Judge, 1904-03-12 · page 5 of 16
Judge — March 12, 1904 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic strip satirizes a vagrant character ("Nervy Nat") who breaks into an apartment while the family is abroad. Nat euphemistically claims curiosity about modern "cliff-dwellings" (apartment buildings) while actually intending to squat. The humor relies on period stereotypes: a Black maid ("Blanche") discovers him in bed and, speaking in exaggerated dialect, calls police. A "folding bed" traps Nat, leading to physical comedy as he's hauled away. The satire targets urban vagrancy and class anxieties about apartment living—the joke assumes readers will find both the vagrant's audacity and the maid's dialect amusing. The final panel's reference to "home of farce-comedy" (jail) is Nat's rueful acknowledgment of his fate. The racial caricature and dialect humor reflect early 20th-century Judge magazine's casual use of offensive stereotypes for comedic effect.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4 Nervy Nat—"'I understand that the family in the first apartment has gone abroad, hence my visit. | have no nefarious intent, mark you. | am merely Curious to see one of these modern cliff-dwellings, with its hot and cold gas, hydrophobia plumbing, running water beetles, and all the up-to-date inconveniences.”” We Nervy Nat—" Bless my opera-hat! this isn’t half bad, y’know. Be- lieve I'll make this my headquarters until the janitor gets—er—next!” Nervy Nat—" Gee! I'm certainly sleepy. This is the first time my manly form has touched a real bed in about eleven years; and if | don't have a lovely, mercerized, copper-riveted, hand-painted snooze I'll know the reason why—and that's no after-dinner speech, either.” Buanche— Lawdy, lawdy! | done yeard a noise in dis room, an’ | fought it wuz de steam-heatah bustin’, sho" ‘nuff. An’ it's a ornery white trash hobo man wot done sneak in yer froo de winder. How's | gwine cotch ‘im an’ hol’ ‘im twell | kin git de perleece ?” Nexvy Nat—"Phee-e-e! kuh—phee-e-e-e—kuh—phee-o-o-ee!"" 5. Bianche—“' Praise de Lawd dis yer's a foldin’-bed! I's got yo", yo" rascal! Help! murder! perleece!"* Nervy Nat—' What—what's the matter? As I live, this is the first time I've ever been squeezed by acoon. Ouch! Let me out, you Ethi- opian typhoon!" mL Buancne—"' Take ‘im right erlong, Mistah Perleeceman. He done bruk in hyer an’ slep' in dat bed; an’ doan’ hesertate ter swat ‘im wif yo'r billy, ‘case he done ‘sult me—called me a ‘Ethop'an typhold,’ an’ yo" knows dat ain’ de way ter ‘dress a lady."" ‘Nervy Nat—' Don't pull my ear altogether off, my dear colonel, as I wouldn't get a satisfactory hearing in yon court of justice. | presume | am correct in concluding we are headed toward that home of farce- comedy.”* NO. 15.—NERVY NAT IS RUDELY AWAKENED. comicbooks.com