--- title: How You Really Look Meme Was in Judge Magazine Comic Strip description: The "How you think you look" meme has a predecessor in a 1921 satire magazine's comedy page. canonical: https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-16T16:38:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:52:12.627Z og:title: This Popular Viral 'Meme' Has Been Around Since 1921 og:description: "How you think you look" vs. "How you really look" has a 1921 comic precedent og:url: https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Popular Viral 'Meme' Has Been Around Since 1921 twitter:description: "How you think you look" vs. "How you really look" has a 1921 comic precedent twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Popular Viral Meme Has Actually Been Around for Nearly a Century  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 16, 2018 4:38 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Apr 16, 2018 4:38 PM UTC Some jokes are timeless. That’s certainly the case with this [meme](http://time.com/5233526/celebrities-if-you-dont-love-me-at-meme/) — often referred to as “how you think you look vs. how you really look” or “what you think you look like vs. what you actually look like.” Recently, the [construction trended virally,](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/what-you-think-you-look-like-vs-what-you-actually-look-like/photos) with internet users sharing photos of themselves at their finest compared to photos of less-than-ideal appearances. But as it turns out, the conceit is nothing new. In fact, as Twitter uncovered over the weekend, you can trace this comparison joke all the way back to a 1921 comic strip in a humor magazine called _Judge_. Surrounded by cringe-worthy written jokes on a page the magazine’s [July 2 issue](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015068416430;view=1up;seq=7), the two-frame illustration stands out. “How you think you look when a flashlight is taken” and “How you really look,” the captions read, identifying a very handsome sketch and a rather more amateur version of the same. As [Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/turns-out-they-came-up-with-that-how-you-think-you-look-1825277731) has pointed out, the reference to a “flashlight” harkens to an era before the invention of the modern flash bulb. The “flashlight” in question was a [chemical explosion of sorts](https://petapixel.com/2015/10/05/a-brief-history-of-the-camera-flash-from-explosive-powder-to-led-lights/) that helped to light photography, albeit somewhat dangerously. As for Judge magazine? Unlike the illustration, its days were numbered; the publication shut down [in 1947](https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000056566/Home). But thanks to their archives, we can recognize the long history of a meme — and the fact that some humor is forever relatable, no matter what century. > [](https://twitter.com/YoRHaw/status/985316694083162112) > [](https://twitter.com/AnthonyGobeille/status/985406941076733953) > [](https://twitter.com/svederik/status/985577902837325825) > [](https://twitter.com/LachlanTemplar/status/985651984639381504) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/"},"headline":"This Popular Viral Meme Has Actually Been Around for Nearly a Century","datePublished":"2018-04-16T16:38:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:52:12.627Z","description":"\"How you think you look when a flashlight is taken\"","url":"https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Humor"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/","name":"This Popular Viral Meme Has Actually Been Around for Nearly a Century"}}]}] ```