Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1921 · page 48 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #22 — page 48: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains racial stereotype humor typical of 1920s American magazines. "Liberty's Love Lights" presents a Black couple using exaggerated dialect ("dey has," "de mo' liberty") making a pun: the Statue of Liberty has small lights because "less light" means "more liberty"—a play on words that treats the couple as simplemtons delivering a joke. "Rasping Rastus' Roost" similarly uses caricatured dialect and the stereotypical character name "Rastus" (a common minstrel-era trope). The humor depends on portraying Black people as foolish—here, a man sleeping outside with the gate open, catching cold. The page reflects how mainstream American publications casually embedded racial caricature into humor. Modern readers should understand this reflects period attitudes, not historical accuracy about the people depicted. The satire targets no specific politics—it's simply racial mockery presented as entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
46 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang neck off a bottle of turpentine he carried and drank the contents of the bottle. “I heard that pair talking,” he said. Liberty’s Love Lights A young colored couple were sitting at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. Henry was holding Mandy’s hand. “Henry,” said Mandy, “Does you-all know why dey has such small lights on de Statue o’ Liberty?” “Ah dunno,” replied the Ethiopian swain, “unless it’s because de less light, de mo’ liberty.” Ashes to ashes, And fire to fire; He’s a weak old man, She’s a foxy vampire. Rasping Rastus’ Roost “What am de matter, Rastus? Ketch cold?” “Yeah, purty bad, too.” “How come?” “Ya know, I put mah bed out in de yard, and doggone if Ah didn’t go to bed las’ night wiff de gate open.” The head that is loaded with wisdom doesn’t leak at the mouth. Debt is a trap which a man sets and baits for him self and then deliberately falls into.