Someone unearthed a comic strip from 1921 that's similar to a modern meme — and people can't believe how relatable it is

• On Saturday, a Twitter user named Ida (@YoRHaw) unearthed an illustration from a July 1921 issue of "Judge," a now-defunct satirical magazine that was published weekly in the US from 1881 to 1947.
• In this copy of "Judge," the comic is credited to the "Wisconsin Octopus," which was published at the University of Wisconsin between 1919 and 1959.
• This "flashlight" joke is remarkably similar to a current meme that juxtaposes what you think you look like with what you actually look like.
• Earlier issues of the "Wisconsin Octopus," published in either 1919 or 1920, include jokes printed in the same "Expectations vs. Reality" format.
• Although the "flashlight" comic was not the first to joke about our expectations falling short, it does indeed fit the modern definition of a meme.

People online are freaking out over an almost century-old comic strip that's still somehow extremely relatable.

A Twitter user recently shared a comic from a satirical magazine published in 1921.

On Saturday, a Twitter user named Ida (@YoRHaw) unearthed an illustration from a July 1921 issue of "Judge," a now-defunct satirical magazine that was published weekly in the US from 1881 to 1947. In this copy of "Judge," which you can see in full here thanks to the University of Iowa, the drawing is credited to the "Wisconsin Octopus," which was published at the University of Wisconsin between 1919 and 1959.

Like many popular memes today, the comic strip shows a side-by-side image of two people. The drawing on the left shows a polished-looking man with luscious lashes and a glossy lip. His portrait is captioned: "How you think you look when a flashlight is taken." The drawing on the right shows a distorted, cartoonish version of the same man along with the caption: "How you really look."

The joke might sound stilted at first, thanks to some archaic language.

In this case, the word "flashlight" refers not to a portable electric light but rather to an early form of flash photography. At the time this comic strip appeared in the "Wisconsin Octopus" and "Judge," photographers would ignite rapidly-burning flash powders or magnesium ribbons to produce bright bursts of artificial light. Flashbulbs were not commercially produced until the late 1920s, and electronic flash was not widely used until the late 1950s.

Language aside, the format of this comic strip seems surprisingly contemporary. As people on Twitter quickly pointed out, this "flashlight" joke is remarkably similar to a current meme that juxtaposes what you think you look like with what you actually look like. Today, the comic strip's captions would probably read something like: "What you think you look like when you take a selfie" versus "what you really look like."

On Twitter, some wondered if this image from "The Judge" could be considered the "first meme."

But, according to the BBC, earlier issues of the "Wisconsin Octopus," published in either 1919 or 1920, include jokes printed in the same "Expectations vs. Reality" format. In one very dated example, a comic strip shows the difference between what a woman looks like when your roommate describes her ("beautiful") and what she actually looks like (not so "beautiful").

While the "flashlight" comic was not the first to joke about our expectations falling short, it fits the modern definition of what a meme is.

As the BBC noted, the Oxford Living Dictionary defines memes as "images, videos, or text that are copied and spread by internet users, often with slight variations." This ability to be widely shared, understood, and applied to various situations — that's almost always what makes a meme take off.

Take, for example, what Twitter users have already done with the "flashlight" comic. Some have turned the 97-year-old image into a recent meme that plays on the old adage, "If you can't accept me at my worst, you don't deserve me at my best."

Other variations on the "flashlight" comic invoke the "You vs. The Guy She Told You Not to Worry About" meme.

It's not clear whether this comic strip can be considered one of the first recorded memes in US history, but what makes it resonate — the often comical difference between our expectations and reality — will likely remain timeless. And isn't it comforting to know that even a century ago, enough people sometimes felt insecure about their appearance that they could publicly joke about it and trust that others would relate? Because same.

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