Polly and Her Pals — 1922-05-17

Four panels follow Paw Perkins fetching a package labeled "Glass — Handle With Care" for a woman (likely Ma). Asked what she wants with it, she first insists she doesn't want it, then immediately demands it — the gag turning on domestic contradiction. When Paw presses her, she announces flatly: *"I'm returning Peggie's ring."* The strip's subtitle, *"The Truth Would Make You Free,"* frames the punchline as wry irony. Sterrett's cross-hatched plaid suits and exaggerated body language show the kinetic draftsmanship he brought to *Polly and Her Pals* from its 1912 debut in the *New York Evening Telegram* — one of the earliest strips to develop a stable ensemble cast across daily and Sunday formats, helping establish the recurring-character model that newspaper syndicates would carry directly into the first comic books of the 1930s.