Judge, 1914-04-04 · page 14 of 24
Judge — April 4, 1914 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a sequential comic strip retelling of the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" with contemporary satirical twists. The narrative shows Humpty attempting to sell hair tonic to the King, undergoing a "practical demonstration" on the wall, and ultimately falling—but landing in something soft (likely manure or similar), thus surviving his famous fall. The satire mocks commercial fraud and dubious patent medicines popular in early 20th-century America. The "Humpty Dumpty" character represents a con artist or charlatan promoting a worthless product. The ironic title—"that Was No Fault of His"—suggests Humpty escapes consequences through luck rather than merit, satirizing how charlatans often evade accountability. The accompanying poems mock butterfly collecting and inflation/wealth obsession, unrelated to the main strip. The final note about "Board of Censorship" indicates this content faced regulatory scrutiny.
📄 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 FALLS INTO SOMETHING The Fall and Rise of Humoty Dumpty that Was No Fault cf His How Sweet of Her But now, a family man, I sigh. se]T 1S Carlyie, I believe, who says it When I was but a boy, Dead is that young delight, is not weil to tell all one knows.”” Flit over fields of wheat and rye— When on great slabs of wheat and rye “Oh, never mind Carlyle! You don’t A filmy summer joy. wateh i flight. , si never‘'a ' I cared not what its hue might be Its hue and weight mean gold, more gold— Want ‘0 sit around and never say any Bright gold or snowy white; oa a ie It made my blood run warm to see Its airy, fairy flight. A Costly Flight I LOVED to see the butterfly, Oh, pounds that I must buy! — At home it makes my blood run cold While so many grafters are in the spot- To see the butter fly. —Howard Markle Hoke light let us not forget Burbank. comicbooks.com