Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, October 1921 · page 26 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #25 — page 26: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical sports article mocking French tennis champion **Suzanne Lenglen**, who apparently gave arrogant interviews dismissing American players upon arriving in the U.S. The piece celebrates her comeuppance when she faced **Molla Bjurstedt Mallory**, a Norwegian-American player, at Forest Hills. The satire ridicules Lenglen's snobbishness: she claimed easy victory over Mallory, but when they actually played, Lenglen was soundly defeated and quit mid-match with a convenient "cough." The article applauds Mallory's dignified sportsmanship and notes Lenglen made herself thoroughly unpopular during her brief stay. The final paragraph predicts similar poor reception for French boxer **Carpentier**, suggesting French athletes' arrogance would not charm American audiences. The humor targets French superiority and celebrates American grit triumphing over Continental pretension—typical 1920s American magazine populism.
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24 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang dropped dead and was carried out by the heels; but anyhow, that is what she said. When she arrived in America, the little French girl did a very foolish thing. She gave out an interview loftily pooh-poohing all the American stars—especially Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, whom she said she had defeated with- out trying. Now it happens that Molla is a sweet, kind- hearted, unaffected, courageous little Nor- wegian girl. She was a professional masseuse when she came to America; but disarmed the snobbery of the Newport tennis set by her good sportsmanship. She read the catty remarks that Lenglen had said about her and she came out on the tennis courts at Forest Hills looking for blood. The dander of her Norse Viking ancestors was up. The way she lit into the French girl filled the latter with dismay. In the face of the tor- nado, the “great Lenglen” retired shivering to the back courts and straightway developed a sensational cough. At the end of the first set, she threw up her hands and quit cold, leaving the courts in tears. Molla retired from the battle in high dignity; but as soon as the club house doors closed upon her, she was almost smothered by the kisses and hugs of the other girl tennis players who had gathered for the tournament. Mlle. Leng- len during her brief stay of two days had man- aged to make herself thoroughly unpopular. It is predicted that the other French cham- pion, Carpentier, will not be basking in quite such a halo of hero worship when he comes