Judge, 1907-06-15 · page 7 of 16
Judge — June 15, 1907 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous children's comic strip, not political satire. It depicts "Teddy Bears"—toys named after President Theodore Roosevelt, whose popularity made them a craze in the early 1900s—planning a prank on a boy named Johnny. The joke: The bears intend to spray Johnny with a garden hose as a "surprise," but when a parson (minister) unexpectedly arrives, the bears panic and spray *him* instead. Johnny, seeing the chaos unfold, wisely hides to avoid blame. The final panels show the parson's angry reaction and each bear being launched into the air by the hose's force. The humor relies on slapstick chaos, mistaken targets, and clever avoidance—typical early-1900s comic entertainment. The "Teddy Bear" reference anchors it to Roosevelt-era popular culture, though the strip itself contains no political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TEDDY BEARS. THE TEDDIES PLAN TO GIVE JOMNNY A BIG SURPRISE WITH A GARDEN-HOSE, BUT—— WELL, A PARSON HAPPENS ALONG, 1, How sweet it fs at early dawn 2. Of course, the minute Johnny goes To sprinkle water on the lawn. The little rascals grab the hose. The Teddies think it is great fun, No doubt they've hit upon some plan And wonder how the trick is done. To fool young Johnny if they can. 3. From all that we can see, we fear |. The Teds cannot believe their eyes— A lot of trouble 's brewing here. The parson looks his great surprise. The Teds think John will get it next: (Just why the joke fs not on John The parson ‘s thinking of his text. Perhaps we'll find out later on.) 6. You ask why John is inching so?” 5. The parson, angered at the trick, Gets into action mighty quick: Well, first he saw the Ted8, you know. And now, you see, each Teddy bear And next he saw the parson nigh, Is on a trip up in the air. And waited for him to pass by! COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGR COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE, KEW YORK. comicbooks.com