Judge, 1907-08-31 · page 16 of 16
Judge — August 31, 1907 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a children's comic strip from Judge magazine (1907) featuring "Teddy Bears"—toys named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who was wildly popular and whose image was commercialized into plush toys during this era. The narrative is a simple slapstick comedy: Johnny takes teddy bears to milk a cow. The bears, mischievous and bored, tie the cow's tail to a rope as a prank. When the cow swishes her tail, she kicks over the milk pail onto Johnny's head. The bears flee as Johnny chases them, covered in milk. The humor relies on physical comedy and the bears' impish behavior—anthropomorphized toys causing childish chaos. For modern readers, the main historical detail is that "Teddy Bears" were contemporary merchandise tied to Roosevelt's popularity, making them recognizable toy characters to 1907 audiences.
📄 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 TEODIES CO OUT TO SEE JOHNNY MILK THE COW. WHILE JOMNNY MILKS THEY THINK OF SOMETHING TO DO AND DO IT. 1, How happy John and Teds are now! They're going out to milk the cow. So eager to see how it's done, The Teds are going on the run. 3. They saw a rope, and could not fail To note it looked like the cow’s tall. Tying tall to rope, then, as we view it, They had to tle the next thing to it. 5. The Teddies yell at Johnny's plight, And even old Boss laughs outright. But Johnny ‘s probably thinking that He doesn't like a milk-pail hat. 2. John does the milking, while the Teds Look on and gravely shake their heads; And then it strikes them that they, too, Ought to find something to do. 4. Of course, when old Boss switched her tail She upset Johnny and his pail. Unhappily, John's head and face Just now are wholly out of place. 6. Seeing that there is no more fun, The Teddies feel it's time to run: While John, with milk down to his shoes, Cries out for vengeance and pursues. COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 995 FOURTH AVE., KEW YORK. comicbooks.com