A complete, restored issue of Penny Dreadfuls from 1890 — all 16 pages of cheap serialized Victorian sensation fiction — crime, horror, and lurid melodrama, free to page through at ComicBooks.com.

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A complete issue · 16 pages · 1890

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair

1890 · Free to read

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 2 of 16 — 2 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 3 of 16 — 3 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 4 of 16 — 4 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 5 of 16 — 5 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 6 of 16 — 6 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 7 of 16 — 7 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 8 of 16 — 8 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 9 of 16 — 9 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 10 of 16 — 10 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 11 of 16 — 11 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 12 of 16 — 12 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 13 of 16 — 13 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 14 of 16 — 14 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 15 of 16 — 15 / 16

Match as a Fakir; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair — page 16 of 16 — 16 / 16

About this issue

This issue of The Nugget Library (August 28, 1890) contains "Match; or, The Pumpkinville County Fair" by Ned St. Meyer, a serialized adventure tale. The protagonist, Matchmore Montrose of New York, encounters "Singing Jim the Fakir" (James Montgomery Windbag), a short, rotund con artist and itinerant singer. Together they travel toward Pumpkinville. At a milk depot, they encounter Polydore Cowbrook, a farmer whom Match accuses of selling watered milk, claiming to represent a government inspection agency. Through bluffing and implied legal threats, Match extorts thirty dollars from the terrified Cowbrook by threatening him with state prison charges. Match and Jim then split the bribe equally and head toward town, with Jim proposing they enter the milk-inspection racket. The narrative continues with their arrival at a tavern where they meet Mrs. Christopher Blueberry.

Browse this issue page by page

Each page has its own page — the cartoon, who’s in it, and what the satire means.