Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, May 1921 · page 34 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #20 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is an editorial page, not a cartoon. It's the masthead/introduction to *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a satirical magazine founded by a veteran around 1919. The editor celebrates the publication's explosive growth: from 3,500 copies in October 1919 to 300,000 by May 1921—achieved entirely through word-of-mouth, with no advertising or subscription agents. The tagline "The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet" likely references the magazine's irreverent, folksy humor as more powerful than military force. The editor invokes the Cherry Sisters (famous vaudeville performers) as a comedic benchmark and promises expansion into Canada. This reflects post-WWI American culture: veterans returning home hungry for entertainment and camaraderie, the power of grassroots media distribution, and satirical magazines' popularity in the 1920s before mass advertising dominated publishing.
📄 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” LESS than two short years ago the Whiz Bang was founded, upon my return from the army, on the Whiz Bang Farm, hoping in so doing that the veterans and their friends of Robbinsdale and vicinity would be supplied with samples of the pep and ginger we had in the army and navy and marine corps. In our opening number, we expressed a faint hope for “big time” sometime, and that we could follow in the footsteps of the Cherry Sisters of vaudeville. Our hopes and aspirations have been more than fulfilled. In twenty months, without the aid of adver- tising or circulation campaigns, and without a single subscription agent in the field, we have grown from 3,500 circulation in October, 1919, to more than 300,000 guaranteed paid circulation with this issue, May, 1921. America surely has given us a grand reception, and we are grateful. Next month we are planning on let- ting our Canadian neighbors get our bundle of farm philosophy, and as quickly as newsdealers can be com- municated with, we will open up new territory. Here’s thanks to you, folks, one and all. And we want you to consider yourself as associate editors. If