Judge, 1906-03-31 · page 16 of 16
Judge — March 31, 1906 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a comic strip titled "Nervy Nat" satirizing a character who is clearly poor or homeless but maintains absurdly pretentious behavior and speech. The humor derives from the contradiction between his actual circumstances and his affected superiority. **The Setup**: Nat crashes a fancy dinner where the King and Queen are expected, announces their imminent arrival (falsely), creates panic, then eats the food while the family flees. When confronted, he justifies himself with elaborate excuses about being "beastly good-natured." **The Satire**: The strip mocks working-class affectation—Nat's constant references to his "careful rearing," his parents being "members of the 400" (American high society), his refined speech ("old chep," "tuppenny fare"), and his philosophical deflections to Officer Slimm. He's portrayed as a con artist and beggar who uses performative gentility as a social weapon. The joke is that Nat's elaborate pretense makes his actual poverty and criminality more ridiculous, not less. Judge's audience would recognize this as satire of social climbing and class performativity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Nervy Nar—"* Dear provisions! There's a bundle of people in there eating real food. Now, that will have to be stopped. Let's see: last Wednesday a waiter at the ‘Cri’ let me look ata menu. That's the near- est I've been to actual food for several days. | will knock." Tue whoLe oLesseo ramiLy—Hurry! The king and queen are coming!” Tue sutier—" Pardon, mum: can Ol come, too!” Tue wHoLe sLesse raMiLy—'' Certainly, Ricketts.” Nervy Nat—"That's all you have to breathe to Britishers—here come their majesties—then 23!"* Tue whore eLesseo rauity—* You scoundrel! their majesties were not coming. Nervy Nat—"'Tut! Nor did | say they were. If you will recollect, | said the king and queen were not far off—which is literally true. They are at Buckingham Palace, which, as you must know, is but a tuppenny tare on the ‘bus. Don't press about me when I am eating, please "— Nervy Nat—"‘ My good fellow, | happened to be passing hyer. Thought I'd let you all know that their majesties the king and queen are not very far off. It really doesn’t interest me particularly, don’t you know. whether you all see them or not. but | take the.trouble to tell you because I'm beastly good-natured—that’s what | am—beastly good-natured.” Nervy Nat—" Thank heaven | was carefully reared! If | had not bean I should, without a little two-for-a-cent doubt, wade into this repast in a most ungentle manner. My appetite, if | undid the leash, would be- tray me into unseemly crunches. Remember, Nathaniel: your parents were members of the 400,"" Orricer Stimm—"* You are the most persistent criminal in hall hof London!” Nervy Nat—“*Slimm, old chep, have a cheroot and let ’s not de- scend to personalities. Let us discuss ideas rather than persons and things.”