Judge, 1909-03-13 · page 15 of 15
Judge — March 13, 1909 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a six-panel children's comic strip from Judge magazine (1909) depicting a slapstick adventure story. Little Johnny and anthropomorphic animal characters encounter a Black woman ("mammy") who attempts to catch possums for stew. The humor relies on physical comedy: the woman strikes the possums with a stick, they fall, but later revive and escape with stolen goods (fruit and sweets), ultimately joining Johnny's group. The cartoon reflects early 20th-century racial stereotypes common to the era—the "mammy" figure is depicted as a threatening, violent caricature pursuing animals for food. The strip treats this darkly comedic scenario as entertainment for young readers. The artwork emphasizes exaggerated features and slapstick violence typical of Judge's illustrated humor of that period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Saige LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TAFFY ’POSSUMS. SHOWS HOW. BY PLAYING ‘POSSUM YOU NEED NOT BE TURNED TO ‘POSSUM STEW. 2. The Taffy ‘Possums, spying 'round, See money lying on the ground. ‘They linger slow behind the rest, And pick the coin up then with zest. 1. John and the "Possums and the Bears Are going home with market wares. They ‘te happy at the thought of food, And in a much SS ZZ more friendly mood. 3. They do not see the ‘* mammy "? black, 4. Safe out of sight she hides the two, Who rushes at them from the back. And dreams of nice, hot "possum stew. She strikes them with a handy stick— Meanwhile the umble-pup has flown ‘They fall, and up she grabs them quick. To tell the band and make his moan. 5. But Taffy ‘Possums soon revive, 6. And when she turns, oh, awful sight! And prove that they are quite alive. ‘The *Possums both have “took "* to fight— While “ mammy" stops a friend to greet, Bearing her fruit and sweets in hand, She sets the basket on the street. ‘They join young Johnny and his band. COPYRIGHT, 1909 BY JUDGE COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, FIFTH AVENUE AND MADISON SQUARE, NEW TORE. Because of the great demand for the popular large-sized “Little Johnny and the Teddy Bears” book, we have exhausted our supply. We will be have on hand, however, an attractively bound smaller edition, called “ The Teddy Bears in Fun and Frolic,” which sent, postpaid, for 35 cents, on receipt of price, by Judge Company, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York.