Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #19 — page 46: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a satirical poem criticizing restrictive legislation, likely Prohibition-era laws. "Blue Laws" (actual laws restricting certain activities, especially on Sundays) are personified as a destructive raven, spreading "discontent, dissatisfaction, gloom." The poem attacks: - **Legal overreach**: legislation "undermining Freedom's precepts" - **Moral policing**: bans on dining, drinking, entertainment ("straight-laced styles") - **Religious strictness**: Sunday restrictions ("the Sabbath") - **Social decay**: corruption ("Crooks and Purists pairing"), loss of joy and contentment The final stanza portrays the nation "draped in mourning," with Freedom itself dying. The satire suggests these laws have killed American liberty and happiness, turning the country into a prison of enforced morality—a common anti-Prohibition argument in 1920s magazines.