Judge, 1907-03-23 · page 7 of 16
Judge — March 23, 1907 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1907 *Judge* comic is a lighthearted visual pun exploiting the "teddy bear" craze. The joke conflates toy teddy bears (named after President Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 bear-hunting incident) with actual bears harnessed as a carriage team. The narrative follows young Johnny taking a girl on a ride pulled by these "teddy bears," which go wild chasing a cat up a tree—playing on the fact that real bears have claws and natural predatory instincts. The girl's dignified disgust at the chaotic ride undermines the romantic outing's charm. The humor relies on the contemporary popularity of teddy bears as fashionable toys and the absurdist premise of using actual animals for transportation. The final panel's wordplay ("bear-ride up a tree") drives home the satirical point about the impracticality of the scenario.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE TEDDY BEARS. JOHNNY TAKES A LITTLE GIRL-FRIEND RIDING, BUT THE TEDDIES GET INTERESTED IN A CAT AND—— BUT READ WHAT HAPPENED. 1. Behold young Johnny's spanking team! 2. What boy and girl would it not please The Teddy Bears are hitched and seem To ride behind such steeds as these ? As weil-behaved a harnessed crew (We wonder what's got in that cat As ever a king's carriage drew. ‘That he should race along like that?) 3. The Teddies think ‘twill be grand fun 4. Of course, as you can plainly see, To give the cat a little run. A cat will head straight for a tree. And you can see by Johnny's face We guess that Johnny sees this, too, He don’t exactly like the pace. And wonders what the bears wiil do. 5. Now, bears, you know, have cat-like claws, 6. No wonder that the dainty miss And so, without a moment's pause, Tilts up her nose at all of this. They follow pussy up the tree, Most any girl as mad would be And Johnny's ride erds as you see. If asked to bear-ride up a tree. COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE, NEW YORK. comicbooks.com