Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, May 1921 · page 17 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #20 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s satirical magazine) contains no illustrations—only text-based jokes and aphorisms. The content is entirely comedic observations about marriage, gender relations, and social behavior, presented as pithy one-liners separated by asterisks. The jokes target common domestic frustrations: men's broken promises, women's manipulation tactics, infidelity, and in-law conflicts. Several jokes reference biblical figures (Mother Eve) and apply outdated moral frameworks (the "wise virgins") to critique modern behavior. The final entry uses mock-biblical language to satirize married men's suffering, particularly from overbearing mothers-in-law. The humor reflects 1920s attitudes: somewhat misogynistic (mocking women as scheming), cynical about marriage, and dismissive of moral hypocrisy. No specific political figures or events are referenced—these are general social satire targeting the institution of marriage itself.
📄 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 15 Some men promise to stop smoking after marriage without exacting a similar promise from the girl. * * * If Mother Eve had been as wise as some of her daughters, what a fool she'd have made of that snake. * * * A man will promise a woman or a baby anything to keep them quiet. Sometimes he delivers the goods in the case of the baby. * * * All of us believe in law and order, of course, but a surprisingly large number of people like to see a policeman get whipped. * * * Of course polygamy is dreadful, but an Oriental wife can come within four or five guesses of knowing where her husband spends his evenings. * * * The wise virgins of olden days kept their lamps trimmed and burning; those of the present day keep the gas turned low, and they manage to trim as many suckers as their predecessors. * * * Blessed is the man that is born for woman. He hath a short life and little joy. He springeth up in the morning like a huckleberry bush and is crushed to earth at night by a mother-in-law.