Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1921 · page 28 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #22 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains several short jokes and comedic quips typical of early 20th-century American humor. The content includes: **Beach/Literature commentary**: A dismissive critique of seaside destinations, recommending Romantic and classical writers (Shelley, Burns, Sand, Crabbe, Bacon) as superior alternatives—satirizing both beach culture and intellectual pretension. **Nursery rhyme parody**: A risqué adaptation of "Dickory Dickory Dock" with sexual innuendo about a mouse in a woman's stocking, playing on double meanings. **Marriage satire**: Commentary mocking marriage certificates as worthless papers and divorce as cyclical—reflecting cynicism about matrimonial commitment common in 1920s humor. **Bathroom humor**: "Loo swimmin'" appears to be a pun on British toilet slang. **Office humor**: The final exchange jokes about a stenographer's appearance mattering more than competence—reflecting period sexism and workplace dynamics. No specific political figures or events are caricatured. This represents general social satire and mild ribaldry typical of *Whiz Bang*.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
26 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang flop and come out with their homely lines all empha- sized. No Greek statues, no things of beauty and joy forever, but shattered, disenchanting dreams, or night- mares rather. Farewell to this flotsam and jetsam, foam and scum, these sand-flies. If you want to have a “good time,” go to the beach where the volume of nature and human nature is “wide open.” The text books you should bring and study on the seashore are Shelley, Burns, Sand, Crabbe and Bacon. * * * Dickory, dickory, docking, The mouse ran up her stocking, But I’m afraid Up there it stayed Which makes it twice as shocking! * * * A marriage certificate is a mere scrappy paper. One divorce leads to another, but the marriage vow will always be taken ad-in-fun-item. * * * Nice day for swimmin’! What swimmin’? Loo swimmin’. * * * “Your new stenog, I hear, is a beauty. Can she spell?” “What does that matter?”