Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1921 · page 16 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #23 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains three unrelated jokes typical of 1920s humor: 1. **Hollywood gossip**: References a cowboy film star and an unnamed woman ("Polly") taking riding lessons, with speculation about a romance or marriage. The joke is that such pairings were expected Hollywood scandals—but nothing came of it. 2. **Modern romance satire**: A four-act play synopsis mocking contemporary courtship, where the punchline is that after romantic progression (eyes, lips, souls meeting), the inevitable conclusion is litigation—satirizing the era's rising divorce rates and legal complications. 3. **Army chaplain anecdote**: A crude joke about a truck stuck in mud. When a chaplain invokes Christ's sacrifice to shame a soldier out of cursing, the soldier responds that religious exhortation won't help practical problems—he needs help with "contraceptives" (implied censoring of a stronger word), not spiritual guidance. The overall tone is cynical about romance, marriage, and religion—typical of post-WWI American satirical magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
14 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang boy was engaged to teach “Polly” to ride. The riding lessons were frequent all winter and Hollywood expected to hear of one of those “high born lady chauffeurs”—in this case cow- boy star—marriages. However, that’s now cold. * * * Our Program This is a modern society drama in four acts: Act I. Their eyes meet. Act II. Their lips meet. Act III. Their souls meet. And then what do you suppose meets? Their attorneys. * * * Sign in a laundry window: “I want your duds, In my suds.” * * * To the Rear, March Army teamsters are known for their science of cursing. One of the trucks was deep in the mud and defied all his efforts and curses. A chaplain passing just then shocked. “Friend, don’t you know who died for sin- ners?” he said. The answer was quick, “Damn your con—drums; can’t you see I’m stuck in the mud?” Without further questions the chaplain de- cided to retreat.