Judge — September 25, 1909 — page 16: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous six-panel comic strip about a boy named Johnny and mischievous possums who steal taffy. The narrative follows their troublemaking: the possums plan theft, execute a heist by rolling down a bank, cause an explosion (panel 4), and attempt escape before Johnny catches them. In the final panel, Johnny confronts the band and decides to punish them. The satire appears to mock Victorian-era children's moral tales, where misbehavior must be punished. The "taffy 'possums" personify animal troublemakers, common in Gilded Age humor. The escalating chaos—from petty theft to explosions—exaggerates consequences for comic effect, satirizing overly serious moral instruction in contemporary literature for children.