Judge, 1906-06-02 · page 16 of 16
Judge — June 2, 1906 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a serial comic strip following "Nervy Nat," a well-dressed American dandy who has been so focused on impressing English society that he's neglected his wardrobe. The humor centers on his attempts to restore his wrinkled, shabby clothes—ultimately resorting to having them pressed by a steam roller, which flattens them completely. The satire mocks American social climbing and anglophilia: Nat's obsession with gaining acceptance among the English elite has left him looking ridiculous. His affected speech ("bee-cotifull," references to Lord Charles Beresford and Graham crackers) lampoons both pretentious Americans and the absurdity of their self-important pursuits. The final panel shows him arrested for appearing in public inside a barrel—the ultimate humiliation for someone so concerned with proper appearance and social standing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1. Nerve Nat—"‘Shades of Beau Brummel and Berry Wall! i have bean so occupied In getting myself solid with the English people that, by Jove! my clothes have bean fearfully neglected. My coat Is as wrinkled and shabby as the comic papers in a barber-shop, and my trousers - they look not unlike a raised map of the White Mountains.” 3, Nerve Nar—"'Here it comes! Almost as if it knew it had—I was going to say a pressing engagement. only I never make puns except on holidays. Good old clothes! You'll be priceless some day when | have passed on to the place where linen sults are none too cool Thousands will flock to the Hall of Fame, and mothers will point to these garments and say to their offspring, ‘ Those were worn at one time by ** Nervy Nat the sage of Madison Square." *"* 5. Nervy Nat— Well, they're pressed—they're as flat as the jokes in the columns of our esteemed contemporaries. I'll have to get a couple of cesteopaths to work on ‘em before I can get into ‘em. Gosh! this barrel has taken all the morocco off my knees. Comvasent 1906 #Y JUD8L COMPANY PUBLISHERS, 226 JOURTH AVE, MEW YORK 2, Nervy Nat—"This ‘sa regular British fit—though, in Justice to the cooper, | must say it's a shade more stylish. Ill hang around under th tree till the street-valet wobbles back this way, and I'll wager ninepence- ha'penny I'll have my clothes pressed bee-cotifull 4. Nexvy Nat—"' Great Juggernaut! what an egregious nincumpoop am 11. If I didn’t go and leave those three perfectos that Lord Charles deres- ford gave me in my coat-pocket! They will be three graham crackers now. I wish those idlotic peers would quit insisting on giving me pres- ents.” I'll have to train with commoners after this."” iit 6. Orricer Summ—" A new hevidence of your shocking depravity—hap- pearin’ hin the streets hin a barrel, indeed!" Nervy Nat—""Slimm, you are so extreme and extravagant in y censure that | ain at a loss to Imagine your moral atti ude had | dispen: with the barrel. Your sense of proportion, old chep, reeds renovaticg.