Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1921 · page 20 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #23 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This text satirizes 1920s women's rights activism, specifically the Lucy Stone League—a real organization advocating for women's right to retain their maiden names after marriage. **Key figures:** Ruth Hale (writer, wife of drama critic Heywood Broun) refused to accept a passport issued under her married name, escalating her refusal into a legal battle. The League, founded by writers like Fannie Hurst and Inez Gillmore, celebrated her court victory forcing a property deed to read "Heywood Broun and Ruth Hale, his wife"—preserving her name equality. **The satire's point:** *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* mocks these Greenwich Village feminists as self-righteous troublemakers. The closing line—"you will have to keep dragging the host"—suggests their activism creates social awkwardness and complications, positioning women's equality claims as annoying rather than legitimate. The magazine ridicules feminist principles while naming real activists, reflecting mainstream 1920s resistance to women's independence movements.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
18 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang Fannie Hurst, the lady who says her husband comes to call on her twice a week, Inez Gillmore, who is married to Will Irwin, and a lot of girls similarly encumbered, organized the Lucy Stone League, Lucy being a lady who refused to stand for the outrage way back in 1855. Ruth Hale was one of the members. She is a writer young lady who married Heywood Broun, the dramatic critic, and dared anybody to call her Mrs. Broun. The United States government took the dare. When she wanted to go to Europe, the State Department got in bad with Greenwich Village by writing out her passport in the name of “Mrs. Heywood Broun.” She indignantly refused to accept it, refusing to go to Europe at all and leaving the place flat. She has now won what the girls consider to be a tremendous victory for “The Cause.” Through the courts she has compelled a real estate owner to deed a certain piece of property to “Heywood Broun and Ruth Hale, his wife.” The Greenwich Village ladies straightaway celebrated the event by adopting a new constitution for the Lucy Stone League—which is one way of giving a cheer, not to say a yell of triumph. If it’s all right with Ruth, it’s all right with me, but it is certainly going to make complications. You will have to keep dragging the host