Judge, 1909-05-22 · page 16 of 16
Judge — May 22, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous children's story comic, not political satire. It depicts "Little Johnny" and companions mistaking a hippopotamus for a rock while fishing. When they attempt to fish from it, the animal suddenly dives, creating chaos. The narrative follows their disastrous encounter: the children nearly drown, a mysterious rescuer (identified as "the mighty 'Ted'") appears to save them, and the hippopotamus sinks away. The story plays on slapstick comedy and the absurdity of mistaking a large animal for terrain. The "taffy 'possums" in the title likely refers to the children's sticky situation rather than actual possums. This appears to be typical Judge magazine fare—lighthearted, illustrated humor for family audiences—rather than the political commentary the magazine was known for. The copyright indicates it's from 1905.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Auage LITTLE JOHNNY AND THE TAFFY ’POSSUMS. THEY FISH FROM WHAT THEY THINK ‘S A ROCK, AND SUFFER A DISASTROUS SHOCK. wl wl . Nor did they 1 in gl “The rock was ily, ~ hy tei WG, eee v Lain gop, Oo Mt a SOE, Paes Gj Stel ls i! a 6 “Land sakes! the rock 's alive!" dive. » knew how to swim, ad aloout lib desperate viii ° 6. Dispatched the beast—it quickly sank, 5 Up near at hand ‘The dripping tots hastened to thank aped to swallow all, ‘Their rescuer, the mighty ‘Ted * Delighted,” a3 of old he said iP When seddenly a riffe-ball COPYRIGHT, toe, BY JOHN A SLEICUIN, Para, VIVTHE AVENUE AND MADISON 890° 4KR, NEW YORK. } comicbooks.com