Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, January 1921 · page 57 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #16 — page 57: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Whiz Bang* (a 1920s American humor magazine) contains several brief jokes exploiting sexual innuendo and marital discord—typical of the publication's irreverent style. The opening piece mocks overly optimistic advice ("Look up!") by reporting Robert Bailey's arrest for looking upward beneath stadium bleachers where women sat—implying he was peeping. The Toronto Telegram sourcing suggests this was a real incident used for comedic effect. Subsequent jokes play on double meanings: a woman won't row because her companion "only hugged the shore" (sexual passivity); a married woman complains her husband no longer cherishes her like "the apple of your eye" (he's lost interest); and a final verse about wind blowing through a girl's transom suggests her undergarments or state of undress. The humor targets romantic disappointment, marital boredom, and sexual behavior—reflecting post-WWI American attitudes where such frank wordplay was becoming acceptable in certain publications.
📄 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 55 Looking Up “Look up!” cries the optimist. “Look upward!” shouts the revivalist. And yet Robert Bailey was fined $1 and costs or ten days because he looked up while under the Stad-ium bleachers. The police said there were ladies up above. —Toronto Telegram. * * * He took her rowing on the lake; She vowed she’d go no more. I asked her why—her answer came: “He only hugged the shore.” * * * A woman’s first kiss may be attributed to childish curiosity; her second to misplaced confidence; the others are just downright carelessness. * * * Not So Fond of It Mrs. Benham: “You used to say that I was the apple of your eye.” Benham: “Well, what of it?” Mrs. Benham: “Nothing; except that you don’t seem to care so much for fruit as you once did.” * * * There was a girl in her own boudoir, And she was tall and handsome; And every time the wind blew hard, It blew right through her transom.