Judge, 1908-05-02 · page 16 of 16
Judge — May 2, 1908 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a slapstick comic strip satirizing "Teddy Bears"—the popular toy craze inspired by President Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 bear-hunting incident. The strip depicts mischievous children playing with toy bears who help them prank a poor Italian peanut vendor. The humor targets both the children's destructive behavior and the immigrant vendor's misfortune. The "Teddies" tie a cord from the sleeping peddler's chair to a moving automobile, launching him skyward when the car accelerates. The chaos that follows—including a police officer knocked down—becomes the joke's payoff. For 1908 readers, this reflected period anxieties about immigrant street vendors and unruly youth, while exploiting the Teddy Bear toy's cultural moment. The satire's tone suggests Judge magazine found such pranks mockingly amusing rather than genuinely cruel, typical of era's casual comedic attitudes toward vulnerable populations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
uae LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TEDDY BEARS. ‘THE TEDDIES TROUBLE ALL THEY CAN A POOR ITALIAN PEANUT MAN. 1. A homeless, sleeping peanut man “2 They take the cord and femly tie Inspires a new and splendid plan. It to an auto standing b John brings some cord, and warns each Teddy "The other end they take with care To make no noise in getting ready. And hitch the peanut vender's chair. 3. The deed is done, and helter ekelter 4. For now the auto starts away, The Teds and Johnny run for shelter. And, to the peanut man’s dismay, Within a door they safely lurk He finds a demon in his chair, And watch their wicked plan at work. And he himself shoots up in air. He lands kerthump! 6. The cop jumps up and vengeance yells, His chair pursue the auto c And quick pursues those “nervy swells” In reckless flight across the street The peanut man hing aftes It knocks a policeman off his feet. While John and “eddies shriek with laughter. COPYRIGHT 198 BY JUDOR COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, FIFTH AVENUE AND MADISON SQUARE, NEW YORK. comicbooks.com