Judge, 1907-05-04 · page 16 of 16
Judge — May 4, 1907 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a six-panel comic strip featuring "Nervy Nat," a recurring character in Judge magazine. The strip follows Nat attending a professional wrestling match in France, where he encounters French wrestlers and a character named "Sergeant Caduc." The humor relies on ethnic stereotyping common to 1907: French characters are depicted with exaggerated accents (written phonetically: "monsieu'," "ze," "zat") and portrayed as pretentious and effeminate—one wrestler wants recognition for his "championship" while Nat dismisses French culture as artificial. Nat himself embodies the brash American tourist archetype, refusing to remove his coat or cigar, treating the wrestling match casually, and ultimately getting physically battered by the French wrestlers. The satire targets both French affectation and American rudeness abroad. The final panels show Nat literally knocked around, suggesting comeuppance for his arrogance. The strip's appeal to Judge's audience lay in its nationalist humor—celebrating American toughness while mocking foreign pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
oe 1. Nervy Nar—"*Aha! a wrestling-bout is on. Vive le sport! I haven'ta 2, Nervy Nat—"'Go on, you beggars! You've done the long-lost-brother blessed thing to do till Caduc shows up, so I'll take this thing on. Don't sup long enough. Get busy! Nobody ‘s painting your portraits, you know. pose these French dubs’know anything about the art, but I'll have a look in— Sick him, Bill! Chuck that other Lizzie on his back! What do you imagine Just for @ laugh.” { we came in here for—to see you play charades ?"* -** Will monsieu’, who honaires me wiz hees criticism, . M. Will not monsieu’ remove his cigar and chapeau ?’ wrestle me for ze championship—yes ?”* Nervy Nat—'t Remove nothing! Why, | wasn't going to take my coat Nervy N. Sure thing, old pal! {haven't ‘wrastled since the times off except for the fact that I had three or four good cigars I didn't want to of yore, when | used to lay big Leatherbee on his back regularly once crush. You'd better kiss your little self good-bye now, because a week, down at the livery-stable. But you listen well to me!" COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY PUBLIBNERS 228 FOURTH AVE. NEW YORK 5. Nervy Nat—' There, now; I wish | had sense enough to obey my in- 6. Sercent Canuc—* W'at it is zat you brosh away wiz ze hand?” stincts, | had a premonition yesterday that it would do me more good to get Nexvy Nat—"* Look out, Caduc! There's one coming right for your eye. a day in the country than to stay:in town. I'm positive the outdoor life is the These French stars of yours have the rottenest sharp points I ever saw.” only one that nature intended ""— NERVY NAT ATTENDS A WRESTLING-MATCH. Note.—The First Series of Nervy Nat's Adventures is now ready, handromely bound, in book-form. Price, 7$ cents ; 10 cents additional for postage he ail, Address {UDGE COMPANY, 225 Fourth Avenue, New York. comicbooks.com