Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1921 · page 56 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #19 — page 56: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous short story satirizing workplace flirtation and infidelity in the 1920s. The joke follows a man who flirts with his own secretary (kissing her when papers drop), then visits another office where he flirts similarly with Brown's secretary, and finally arrives home to find his wife lounging and swinging her legs—the same pose he's been enjoying with other women. The satire targets the casual sexual dynamics of modern office culture: secretaries who deliberately display their legs and brevity of dress to please employers, and men who take advantage. The punchline—his wife adopting the same suggestive posture—implies she's either mocking his behavior or suggesting universal infidelity. The repeated "swinging legs" motif emphasizes how normalized and casual these flirtations have become. It's pointed social commentary on 1920s morality and workplace conduct.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
54 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang Enough Is Too Much He sat on the edge of her desk and swung his legs. She, being fully satisfied that the brevity of her frock and the excellence of her silk hose would lend charm to such a proceeding, did likewise. For she was a good secretary, and all study the tastes of their employers. “Everything all right about the Sutton case?” he asked. “Oh, quite,” she replied, “here are the papers,” and she passed them towards him—but before he could take them they fell to the floor. “I am so awfully sorry,” she said, as he went down on his knees to pick them up, “let me help you.” Then a most extraordinary thing happened. He kissed her. And she, being a proud girl and not wish- ing to accept favors from any man, returned it. It was a very free and easy office. About an hour later he said he must go and see Brown about the Ware case. But Brown was out. So he sat on the edge of Brown’s secretary’s desk and swung his legs. She, being every bit as good a secretary as his own, did likewise. After a pleasant chat he said he must go home. He found his wife reclining on a sofa swinging her legs. “Had a busy day?” she asked him. “Yes, very busy,” he replied. “You’re late, are you not?”