Judge, 1908-12-26 · page 16 of 17
Judge — December 26, 1908 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a children's comic strip, not political satire. It tells a slapstick story: Johnny and anthropomorphic teddy bears go sledding down a snowy hill, lose control, and collide with various people—a dog and man, a policeman, and a Black woman—causing chaos. Everyone falls, then the bears scatter. The strip trades on early-1900s humor: rambunctious children causing mayhem, authority figures (the policeman) made foolish, and crude racial caricature. The "Teddy Bears" reference likely alludes to the toy craze following President Theodore Roosevelt's 1902 bear-hunting incident. The humor is purely physical comedy and mischief, reflecting period attitudes toward both childhood pranks and racial depiction that modern readers would find offensive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
uage- LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TEDDY BEARS. THE TEDDIES, FULL OF MISCHIEF STILL, HAVE AN ADVENTURE ON A HILL. 1. The bears and Johnny ma And plan for a toboggan-ride. Upon a sled, all cuddled tight, They surely make a jolly sight. 2 Young Johnny sits in front to steer, And shouts to keep the roadway clear ; O’er ice and snow away they go, Right toward the village down below. 3. A dog and pon the street Are the firs 8 that they meet. ow they roll— quite past Jobn’s control. 5. Poor victims of the Teddies’ toot, ‘They have a kind of * shoot the shoot,” TH, bang! the sled sticks fast, and all ‘The bears and Johnny share the fall. 4. A policeman next comes on the track, And quickly falls upon his back ; And now a negress they attack, And land her with a horrid whack. 6. A single instant all lie still Down at the bottom of the hill. And then the band rush off to hide, Far from the victims of that ride. COPYRIGHT, 190K, BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, FIFTH AVENUE AND MADISON SQUARE, NEW YORK. * comicbooks.com