Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, January 1921 · page 15 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #16 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from Captain Billy's Whiz Bang satirizes a messy Hollywood family situation. A matinee idol (film star) divorced his wife and half-dozen children, remarried, and had a baby with his new wife. The decree granted him custody part-time. The humor—and scandal—centers on a farcical moment: when the ex-wife arrives at a fashionable hotel with her children to visit the father, one of the kids wheels a baby carriage into her room and cheerfully announces he has a "new sister" from his father's second family. The satire mocks both Hollywood's marital instability and the awkward, tangled family situations it creates. The magazine's tone is gently mordant, treating the chaos as representative of celebrity excess and moral confusion. The reference to chauffeurs having "feelings" suggests servants bore witness to the drama.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 13 moniously when the party waxed late into the next day. Even chauffeurs have feelings. The newspaper accounts mostly were suave and soft pedally. But it is said that some of the best news- paper people remembered only the quietness of the opening hour or so and were in no editorial mood to recollect just everything that did happen. Reel Four. A great social mix-up occurred at Hollywood the other morning. One of our best mat- inee idols, a year or so ago separated from his wife and half dozen children. He took unto himself another wife. The decree allowed that the father could have the children part of the time, or half of the time. Following his new matrimonial venture the mat- inee star found himself blessed one morning with a new baby. Just recently the former wife emerged from the east and took apartments at one of the most fashion- able Hollywood hotels. She was accompanied by a flock of children. The moment had come for the former husband to have his time portion of the children. Bright and early on the day after their arrival they made for the father's home, where they were happily received by the foster mother who showed them their half sister, her own child. Kids will be kids, so it was no wonder that the mother of the flock was surprised and amazed during the course of the morning when one of her brightest young hopes trundled a baby carriage into her room and gaily announced that he had a new sister to show her. He had come down from the home of his father