"Little Billy" Jacobs gets a dime from his mother to buy some ice cream like the other kids. When he toddles out, however, two older boys take his money so they can buy a Punch & Judy set to put on a show, for which they charge admission.
No, it's not a searing indictment of crony capitalism and corrupt state actors ..-- although there is a cop on the beat who helps Billy with the many ice cream containers he winds up with.It's a Keystone comedy. Sennett borrowed many of the trappings of his slapstick from European comedy, and there were a couple of series about small children, like BOUT DE ZAN. This movie does not rely on humorous situations, like shooting the maid or dealing with an elephant. Instead its charms are the Billy was a very cute toddler at the magnificent age of three. He would waddle through 45 shorts and a dozen features before he retired at the advanced age of 8 in 1918. Jacobs would live until 20014 and the advanced age of 94. One wonders if he ever reminisced about his long-ago starring career.