Judge, 1907-11-23 · page 10 of 16
Judge — November 23, 1907 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This 1907 Judge comic strip satirizes class-climbing and social deception. "Nervy Nat" is a con artist who impersonates an invited guest to infiltrate the wealthy Hotel St. Swellerino, home of "Lord Somerville," a British aristocrat. The joke plays on early 20th-century anxieties about social boundaries: Nat effortlessly crashes high society by merely dropping his host's name, then encounters O'Toole, apparently a former adversary now working as a doorman. After a scuffle, both are admitted to Somerville's dinner party, where Nat gleefully consumes the fine meal while pocketing silverware—treating the aristocratic gathering as an opportunity for theft. The satire mocks both Nat's shameless opportunism and the apparent ease with which social pretense penetrates wealthy circles. The "Thanksgiving" angle suggests American social mobility themes, contrasting the working-class schemer with British nobility.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
\ iinin hy ‘| 4 if I} A a 1, Nervy Nat—‘Ha! the Hotel St. Swellerino, 1 believe. This is the dump where Lord Somerville, that British bloke, hangs up his pajamas. I'll st pass up the side entrance and walk right in the front door Iike any other i millionaire. Hope nothing unpleasant occurs. y —" Here, hobo, beat it! Youse can't be loafin’ around here. Skidoo! Nervy Nat—' Who in thunder is this that makes merry with me, Lord Somerville's invited guest? Hobo, is it? Well, here's where ! proceed to dust up the carpet with you, old horse!"* 5. Nerve Nar (after they have burst through the door of Somerville’s apart- ment)—"* Now, you loafer! | suppose you are satisfied. Begone, you goat'” O'Toore—* Beat it!" Lor Somervitte—'' Beastly extraordinary!” 2. Nervy_N. I passed by everything 0. k. Just mentioned ‘Somerviile’s name, and that he had invited me to dine. It worked like canned fruit. The number of his cell is, | observe, twenty-three reversed—a good omen, by my lights!" (MM NSS 4. Nervy Nat—" Music, music! Yes, and el ctric ligh Barnum’s circus would give for this altraction¢ It headliner.” ll iit 6. Lor Somervite—'* Eat hearty, me friends!" Nervy Nat—"'I'm on, English. Do you remember the time your ex- cellency and my one-time chaperon, O'Toole, were locked up in a moving- My word! I hope O'Toole doesn't see me annexing the silverware. van? I have lots to be thankful for this day. Yum, yum! NO. 25.—NERVY NAT HAS A FINE THANKSGIVING DINNER. COPYRIGHT 1907 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, 225 FOURTH AVE., NEW YORK. NOTE.—The First Series of Nervy Nat's Adventures ts now ready, handsomel, for postage when ordered by mail. Address JUDGK COMPA! bound, tu book-form. Price, 75 cents; 10 cents additional NY, 225 Fourth Avenue. New York. comicbooks.com