Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1921 · page 39 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #23 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s-era humor magazine) contains two poems expressing post-WWI soldier nostalgia and attitudes. The first poem describes a serviceman's encounter with "Donna Marie," a Southeast Asian woman (likely Filipino or similar), using crude stereotypes: poor hygiene, betel-nut-stained teeth, and alcoholism at a bar. The speaker initially found her appealing but now claims relief to be back in America, warning others away from "Far East calling"—likely referencing the allure of colonial Asia and sex work associated with military postings. The second, untitled poem ("Woman") is a florid compliment to femininity itself, celebrating women's beauty and charm while claiming men willingly sacrifice for them. Together, these poems reflect post-WWI American soldier attitudes: exoticized contempt for Asian women contrasted with idealized reverence for American women. The satire likely mocks both the soldiers' contradictory attitudes and contemporary gender anxieties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 37 Her hair is black and greasy And it is full of bugs and fleas, Her teeth are black with betel nut, Or colored with dark red paint, Her name is Donna Marie, The same as her patron saint. When the rain fills up the rice fields, And soaks us exiles to the skin We all go down to “Bino Mary’s” And tank up on square faced gin, With her arms around my shoulders, And her cheeks to mine pressed close, And I smell her breath, Oh! Glory, I have to hold my nose. But I’ve left it all behind me, Thank God, I’m far away, Back here in God’s own country, And you bet your boots, I’ll stay, And I’m learning in my old home town That folks are wise who say, When you hear that “Far East” calling Just be wise and stay away. No more have I of the “Dhoby” Or the awful prickly heat, But I walk out in the evening, With a maiden fair and sweet. Just give me one good Yankee girl, Looking like my own, And the goo-goo girls are welcome, To the “gink” that wrote this poem. * * * Woman Oh, woman, woman, woman; You are something more than human! Ever changing, ever charming And sometimes quite alarming. And though you break our banks, We can only speak our thanks; With forms so fair and hearts so true We live and die for you, for you!