Judge, 1905-12-02 · page 16 of 16
Judge — December 2, 1905 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a comic strip satirizing the perceived dullness of Philadelphia compared to New York City. The protagonist, "Nervy Nat," wakes up in Philadelphia after sleeping for months and treats it as a catastrophe—calling it "the silent places" and a "vacuum." He desperately wants to escape back to New York (mockingly called "Graftville" and "Gotham"), willing to hide in baggage to do so. The satire targets the common early-20th-century urban prejudice that Philadelphia was boring and culturally inferior to the vibrant, energetic New York. The joke relies on New York superiority sentiment popular among Judge magazine's urban readership. The ethnic humor in "Officer O'Toole" (Irish stereotype) and "Saratogy" (suggesting a wealthy but somewhat simple character) reflects period comic conventions. The overall tone mocks both Philadelphia's perceived dullness and New Yorkers' smugness about it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1 Nervy Nat—"' Say, old sport, for Pete's sake, put me sagacious as to the locality in which | find myself | have evidently been snoozing here for several months."" Oto sport—'" My friend, thee Is in Philadelphia !"* Nervy Nat—"" My good sir, you have an expression that is nearly human, And by your worried look | take it you area New-Yorker. Will you help a fellow-citizen in distress ? ‘Traverer—' but what distress?" Nervy Nat—"' Philadelphla—need you ask? ‘Take me with you as baggage—I'll be a trunk!" BAocAce GentLeman—'' There youse are, Mr. Saratogy—New York city.” Nexvy Nat-—" Thanking you for your esteemed favor of the present dato, I remain yours bumpingly.”* THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF NERVY NAT: HE WAI KES 2. Nervy Nat—"As | expected—Philly, or the silent places. I'll be haled before the magistrates for disturbing the vacuum, I suppose. But I must get back to Graftville. How in the name of somnolent siestas i drifted into Tranceburg beats me!” 4. Bacoace centieman— Sure, ‘tis a funny piece of baggage ye have: but ‘tis under th” hundred an’ fifty pound!" wee? Nervy Nat—""So would you be. my husky friend, if you were an empty trunk. But, great Savarin! I’d bea cheap cotton telescope-bag to get back to the one and only Gotham !"* 6. Orricer O’ Toot —"" Hivins! ‘tis Nervy Nat!"* Nervy Nat—"" Yes, O'Toole; returned from the dead! Allow met shed seven or eight man’s-size tears on your padded chest. Then swat me one with your brassy bulger, and I'll know I’m home,” FROM A REFRESHING SNOOZE OF SEVERAL comicbooks.com