Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #20 — page 44: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains two poems rather than political cartoons. "Captain Billy's Whiz Bang" is a first-person narrative about revenge—the speaker shoots a man named Frisco after a street encounter, then escapes by train. It's a violent crime story presented as entertainment. "The Midnight Glide of Pauline Revere" by W.K. Edwards parodies historical heroism (evoking Paul Revere) by depicting a modern woman engaged in sexually suggestive dancing at what appears to be a jazz-age party. The poem satirizes contemporary youth culture—specifically the "flapper" era's dancing crazes and intimate physical contact—through mock-serious language. The moral message condemns modern entertainment venues as inferior to home-based amusement. The humor targets changing social mores regarding courtship and dancing in the 1920s.