Judge, 1907-06-15 · page 5 of 16
Judge — June 15, 1907 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This comic strip satirizes a character named "Nervy Nat" arriving in New York, fashionably dressed in a plaid suit and top hat. The humor derives from his aggressive, socially inappropriate behavior aboard public transportation and city streets. The satire targets nouveau riche or working-class affectation—a man adopting upper-class fashion while behaving rudely. His interactions with police, other passengers, and a dog demonstrate deliberate disregard for social conventions and "no smoking" signs. The strip's title references Lord Reginald Somerville, who "missed the boat," suggesting this is parody of a specific social scandal, though the exact reference is unclear from the image alone. The humor appeals to readers' class anxieties about proper urban conduct and social climbing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Nat—"‘Ah! little old Manhattan once again! What r 1 How those temples of the trusts puncture the firmament! would consider those high ones a breach of the peace. It would be Just like Caduc to rush in and arrest New York. Algernon, you British canine! there's the real gocds. Gaze upon the original article, Algy.”” 3. O'Toote—"' Be th’ siven saints, this is luck! Nervy Nat, the prodigal, comin’ shtraight into th’ ar-rms av th’ law!" Nervy Nat—"* I've got to appear in an awful hurry and hand out a bluff of Hippodrome proportions. It's O'Toole, by all that’s sinful!” 5. O'TooLe—"'So "ve lift frog-land to raise th’ divil wid O'Toole, hov yez? Well, ‘tis th’ foine, juicy lemon Oi hov fer yez, Nathaniel." Nervy Nat—"' My word! but you're a bally old bobby. What do you mean, sirrah, by addressing Lord Reginald Somerville as Nathaniel? In Hengland | could ‘ave you ‘anged for such himpudence."” 2. Nervy Nat—" Holy mackerel! ips do not deceive me, there is O'Toole! How deucedly unfortunate, with all his lordship’s gay duds upon me! I feel positively ashamed. doubt if O'Toole’s intelligence and powers of perception are keen enough to penetrate this worldly disguise.” 4. Nerve Nat—"' Curse that dog for a mut! To lose my ease of manner at the psychological moment, and steering straight for O’Toole’s basement!"* O'Toove—" Thot's roight, me b’y! Come to me ar-rms, an‘ don’t make anny unnicissary throuble."* : 6, Nervy Nat—"Unhand me, caitiff! l wish to call a cab for the Walled Off Pasturia, where | can be free from this unpleasant notoriety.”” O'Toore—'* Tis a cab fer th’ Hotel de Lockup OI'll call, me ludship: an’ if ye're phat yez sez ye are, ye can tell it to th’ judge." ‘CorrmanT 1007 BY JUDGE COMPANY PUELIGNERS 298 FOURTH AVE, Mew YOR NO. 2—NERVY NAT REACHES NEW YORK, FASHIONABLY GARBED IN THE SWELL ATTIRE OF LORD REGINALD SOMERVILLE. WHO MISSED THE BOAT. comicbooks.com