You see above the entire run of an early Roy W. Taylor strip, Flicky Flim the Fakir (or Faker, once Roy looked up 'fakir' in the dictionary). Flicky is a salesman whose showmanship is guaranteed to draw a crowd ... and then make them want to murder him. The strip ran in the newly hatched Chicago Tribune Sunday section on November 24 and December 8 1901.
Thanks to Cole Johnson for the scans.
It would seem that the subtitles are designed to insure nobody would get an attack of anxiety from any possible suspense that might build in the gag before it's payoff.
ReplyDelete