Judge, 1913-10-04 · page 14 of 24
Judge — October 4, 1913 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a six-row comic strip titled "A Fish Story: Showing how it depends on the strength of the fish"—a visual pun where the narrative outcomes depend literally on which fish is stronger in various scenarios. Below are three separate comic vignettes with dialogue: **"He Wondered"**: A rural African American character (drawn in period-stereotypical dialect) expresses bewilderment that despite owning eight strong dogs, he cannot keep "the wolf from the door"—meaning he remains poor. **"A Hilarious Time Assured"**: A joke about a party where all invited women claim to have nothing to wear. **"Her Reward"**: A woman finally marries after living down social competition. The page reflects early 20th-century Judge magazine humor: crude ethnic caricature, domestic comedy, and wordplay. The racial stereotype in the first section would be considered offensive today, though it was standard in contemporary satirical publications.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
JUDGE'S MOTION PICTURES A Fish Story: Showing how it depends on the strength of the fish He Wondered A Hilarious Time Assured Her Reward «J DUNNUH how-come,’’ ruefully Jimmy—We're going to have an awful «S$ Miss Lorena Lingerlong is to be mused shuckless old Brother Soggy. gay time at our party next week! married at last?”” “I dess nach’ly kain’t make out ‘bout dis: Johnny—How d'ye know? “‘Yes; she has finally lived down all I owns eight dogs—keen, able-bodied var- Jimmy—aAll the women mother’s in- competition.’’ mints as ever yo’ seed, sah!—and yit, ited have said they were coming, and bless goodness! I kain’t keep de wolf every one of ‘em says she hasn’t a thing All the fools are not in the carnival fum de do’, no way I kin figger!’’ to wear! parade. Some are looking on. comicbooks.com