Judge, 1907-06-08 · page 16 of 16
Judge — June 8, 1907 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous six-panel children's comic strip from Judge magazine (1907) with no political satire. It depicts a boy named Johnny staging a photo shoot with stuffed teddy bears, arranging them into an increasingly precarious pyramid formation for his camera. The joke builds progressively: the bears cooperate initially, but chaos erupts when a dog and cat crash through the fence, scattering the bears and animals everywhere. The cat seeks refuge in Johnny's camera, while the dog causes mayhem. The humor culminates with Johnny himself ending up in a washtub amid the pandemonium. The accompanying verse provides running commentary on each panel's action, emphasizing the comedic disorder and the irony of how the animals' instinctive reactions differ from how photography "should" work. It's gentle, slapstick humor aimed at children—no deeper satirical meaning intended.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
lucige LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TEDDY BEARS. UMEY POSE POR LITTLE JOHNNY'S CAMERA AND MAVE ALL SORTS OF FUN—UNTIL THE DOG AND CAT ARRIVE OVER THE PENCE. 1, * Look pleasant, please, and do stand still."" 2. Then Johnny makes three Teddies stand, Thus Johnny to the Teds, until $ While two get on their shoulders, and They hardly know where they are at. Begin to pull the last one up. (P. S.—Perhaps you see that cat.) (P.S.—Do you perceive that pup?) 3. And now you note the pyramid Of Teddy Bears, and what John did To get a funny snap-shot view. (And there's that cat and doggie, too.) The cat is surely going some, And doggie ‘s making things just hum, (While Teds are flying in the air You might glance at that wash-tub there.) 5. The safest place scared pussy saw Was little Johnny's camera. (You see the foolishness of that: While Teddies (so to us "twould look) But, then, you know, you're not @ cat), Ask if it's thus photos are “* took." GOrYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE, KEW YORK 6. And here, "midst all the strange hubbub, Sits little Johnny in the tub, comicbooks.com