Judge, 1907-02-09 · page 16 of 16
Judge — February 9, 1907 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This six-panel comic strip satirizes an American character ("Nervy Nat") experiencing Parisian Mardi-Gras revelry. The humor contrasts American Puritanical restraint with French celebratory excess. Nat initially celebrates the confetti-throwing tradition enthusiastically, but quickly becomes overwhelmed—complaining that confetti covers his clothes and body. A female dancer and a sergeant attempt to engage him in the festivities, but he retreats to longing for quiet, religious observance ("a quiet Sabbath in the vicarage garden"). The satire mocks both cultures: French laxity (the sergeant criticizes "indecency"), and American prudishness and discomfort with uninhibited joy. Nat's repeated complaints about confetti getting everywhere mock Americans abroad who resist foreign customs while claiming to embrace them. The comic suggests Americans can't truly relax into pleasure—a common Judge magazine theme about American vs. European attitudes.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
1, Nervy Nat—'Ta, ra, ra, boom! Say, this is more fun! Hey, there! 2. Mute. TANcerine—" Monsieu’ wants gaieté!"* thou hand-painted tangerine! open your mouth and I'll throw some confetti Nervy Nat——"'Oh, remnants! Oh, point d'esprit! Oh, Irish crochet! init. What a lark the Pareesers have on Mardy-Grah! Conventionality and is that your conception of observing a festival that is essentially religious in confetti are cast to the wynds. Say, Fedora, where's your gayety, my little inception? You must have had a very cursory upbringing “—— Quakeresseress ? J 3. Mute. Tancerine —* Monsiew” wants galeté—yes?” 4. Nervy Nat—" There must have been lots of cinders and crumbs mixed Nervy Nat—"'Help! Quit, mademoiselle! I take it all back. 1 only up in that confetti. I believe half the confetti on the Boulevard des Italiens imagined gayety was what I craved. My brain has cleared now, and | see is nestling on my dorsal fin at the present moment. | believe all the confetti that what I really desired was a quiet Sabbath in the vicarage garden, Let me that was ever made is holding a mass-meeting at the corner of Spine Avenue go, that's a dear “— and Shoulder-blade Street " —— WAGE * 5. Nervy Nat—" Glory be to Adam and Evel I don't care a derisive how! 6. Sercent Capuc—'* Ma fwa! such indecencness—in ze Grand Boulevs'4 in Hackensack whether any one likes it or not. I can't stand that confetti undressing! C'est incroyable!” playing red-rover all over my back. My clothes will simply have to come Nervy Nat—'tCaduc. | would have done the same thing if I had bee Tall the middle of the Sahara Desert, all by myself."” NERVY NAT JOINS THE PARISIANS IN MARDI-GRAS. comicbooks.com