Judge, 1909-09-11 · page 16 of 16
Judge — September 11, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a children's comic story, not political satire. It depicts mischievous creatures called "Taffy 'Possums" who play a prank on a boy named John. The narrative follows: John gardens; the possums hide underground with their tails disguised as weeds; John attempts to pull out what he thinks are weeds; the possums emerge with screams and chaos; finally, John laughs at their misadventure and the possums regret their trick. The humor relies on wordplay ("Taffies" for taffy-colored possums), visual gags (mistaking tails for plants), and a moral lesson about pranks backfiring. This appears to be light family entertainment from Judge magazine's 1909 copyright. The anthropomorphic animals and whimsical plot are typical of early 20th-century children's comics, with no evident political commentary or social critique.
📄 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 TAFFY ’POSSUMS. THE TAFFIES PLAY THEIR TAILS ARE WEEDS, THEN BITTERLY REGRET THEIR DEEDS. me a 2. Within a box beneath the earth ‘The ‘Vathes hide with noiseless mirth, While bumble pup and Teddy bear Pull through their tails with anxious care. 1. John had been gardening all day, The ‘Taffies watched him while at play ; And when he thought his work was through, They plan to give him more to do. 4. In vain he tries to pull them out He sees them poking from the ground. 1 , and looks about He thinks them weeds, and looks aghast ro ie sharp and true, And wonders how they grew so fast vo weeds which quickly grew 3. When John at eventide comes ‘round 6. Ob, how John la 5. But scarcely had he started in But still he came When screams and shrieks and hovls begin. The earth tlies up from ‘neath the blossony And out jump four scared ‘Vatfy "possums And tails and “possums quickly binds COPYRIGUT, (909, BY JOPS A SLRICHEN, May PURLISUERS, FIFTIL AVENUE (SD MADISON SQUARE, NEW YORK.