Judge, 1904-06-18 · page 5 of 18
Judge — June 18, 1904 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic strip satirizes turn-of-the-century sideshow exploitation and hustlerism. "Nervy Nat," a con artist, displays various large men as carnival attractions—comparing them to Barnum's famous exhibits—charging admission to gawk at them. The humor targets both Nat's shameless opportunism and the gullibility of paying audiences. The "Stout Gentleman" eventually confronts Nat, outraged at being exhibited without consent. Nat's response—offering the man a bench and proposing to split gate receipts—mocks the ease with which moral objections dissolve when profit-sharing is offered. The satire critiques American consumer culture's appetite for human spectacle, the blurred ethics of showmanship, and the willingness of even exploited parties to compromise principles for money. It reflects the era's ambivalence about such exhibitions, which were simultaneously popular and increasingly controversial.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Nervy Nar—* After eating ‘ pruno-buttero"! Gee! | wish I'd bee: raised a pet. Why, he has a lovely shape—looks like a stuffed tomato doesn't he? 1 think I can make a little money out of him if I put tha screen around him and charge tencentsa glance. A ripping idea, by Jove!" 2. Nervy Nat—" Hope Jumbo doesn't wake up for a few minutes. I'd like to take him out to the exposition. Now, you see, there are plenty of ways of making an honest living without degrading one’s self by work. He's snoring Rubinstein’s melody in F."" Ey Nervy Nat—"' Ladies, gentlemen and kids, step forward and have a soul-satisfying squint at the fattest man in greater New York—all for a dime! We had to bring him down from Yonkers on a river-barge built especially for him. He weighed two thousand pounds before he started. but, owing to the heat, now tips the scales at one thousand five hundred and twelve.”* — Nervy Nat—"This is an absurdly small sum to charge for such a large exhibit. It is a much more restful show than Barnum’s, as there is nothing to distract the eye or wrench the nerves. Step up and view the human’ mastodon—the largest mammal in captivity! Only yesterday he blocked the Williamsburg bridge for five hours by falling to sleep on it.” 5. Srour cenrLeman—"' Hi, there! what the devil do you mean by fenc- ing me in this way and making an exhibition out of me?" Nervy Nat—''Calm yourself, my dear sir, You are in error—you made the exhibition and | made the money.” Stour centieman—"'Oh, you make a jest of the outrage, do you? You trifle with me, eh?” Nervy Nat—" Far be it from me to speak lightly of you, since you press me for an answer. The—er—bench over there is almost as com- fortable as a seat—Iif you don't mind—and I'll beg your pardon and divide the gate-receipts."" NO. 29.—_NERVY NAT AND THE STOUT GENTLEMAN.—WICKED NAT! comicbooks.com