Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1921 · page 36 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #23 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of satirical content: **First section**: A critique of Roman imperial excess and decadence, drawing parallels to contemporary concerns about wealth inequality and authoritarian power. The passage lists Roman abuses—extravagant spending, arbitrary taxation, suppression of dissent, corruption of justice—as historical cautionary tales. The satire implies modern readers should recognize similar dangers in their own society. **Second section**: Self-promotion for *Whiz Bang* magazine itself. The editors boast that their May issue featuring a poem called "The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band" (sourced from a San Quentin convict) became so wildly popular that copies sold out across the entire West Coast within days. This appears tongue-in-cheek exaggeration designed to establish the magazine's cultural relevance and appeal among readers seeking edgy, unconventional content. No specific political figures or events are named or caricatured on this page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
34 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Before her downfall Rome could spend mil- lions on her royal tables, support the dignity of a single senator at $80,000 a year, employ courts for sychophants and flatterers, impose taxes at the pleasure of her ruler, declare any complaint treason, marry her daughters for money and titles, employ notaries to attest the fatness of her banquet fowls, punish men with death for trivial offenses and make slaves and menials of the profoundest philosophers. Considering their natural limitations, those old boys set a pace that would keep anybody hustling to keep up with them. The sports of several generations back might have been veri- table hicks compared to the modern brand, but those of several centuries back didn't take a back seat for none—and don't yet! * * * IN THE MAY issue of last year, when Whiz Bang was a baby in the magazine field, we published a poem famed over the West Coast, “The Girl in the Blue Velvet Band,” which we obtained after much effort from a former convict of San Quentin penitentiary, wherein this masterpiece was written. With- in a week after the Whiz Bang, containing the first publication of this poem, reached San Francisco, that city had sold out every copy, and a day or two later none could be purchased from Canada to Mexico on the western slope.