Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, January 1921 · page 34 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #16 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an editorial section from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a satirical humor magazine. The page contains no political cartoon—instead, it's a humorous advice column inviting readers to share embarrassing moments. The editorial presents a risqué joke about "Gus," a hired farmhand who encounters a woman he'd met swimming at Lake Minnetonka. When he greets her on a Minneapolis streetcar, she embarrassingly responds that she didn't recognize him "with your clothes on"—implying they'd met naked while swimming. The joke plays on Prohibition-era drinking culture: Gus uses this mortifying public moment as an excuse to leave the streetcar and drink more ("another little drink"). The satire targets both workplace gossip and the casual dishonesty of alcoholics fabricating excuses. The magazine's subtitle, "The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet," suggests irreverent, exaggerated storytelling as entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
32 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Whiz Bang Editorials "The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet" ID you ever feel embarrassed? We did, the other day when the boss cow, Ethelbert, kicked over our bucket at milking time and ripped our trousers in front of the chickens. Write to us about your embarrassed moments and let's console each other. For instance, Gus, our hired man, was in Minneapolis the other day getting his usual supply of moonshine and was riding on the street car to the depot. "I noticed a girl sitting across the aisle that I had met while in swimming at Lake Minnetonka last summer," said Gus when he got home, "I had not seen her since until then. I tipped my cap and said 'Hello! How are you?'" and for a minute she looked at me blankly and then burst out: "Oh, why, hello! I didn't recognize you with your clothes on.' Of course this attracted the attention of the passengers and I found it more comfortable by getting off the car at the next stop for another little drink." Now, of course, that may have been only Gus's alibi for coming home intoxicated. I had a similar experience myself last time I was