Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, October 1921 · page 33 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #25 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several short satirical pieces from this 1920s humor magazine: **"The Modern Way"** mocks post-WWI domesticity by listing modest Depression-era pleasures (buttermilk, near-beer, jazz records, a chicken) as preferable to President Harding's job—satirizing both economic hardship and political dissatisfaction. **The golf joke** relies on ethnic stereotyping, depicting a Jewish character ("old Hebrew," "Ikey") who mishears "Fore!" (the golf warning) as "Four" (dollars), playing on antisemitic caricatures of Jewish bargaining and litigiousness common in 1920s American humor. **"Good Night, Shirt"** presents domestic banter between Jack and his wife about her nightwear, playing on the double meaning of "frock" (dress vs. slang term) for mild marital humor. The opening passage about romantic devotion uses flowery, sentimental language ironically—typical of the magazine's irreverent tone toward conventional romance.
📄 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 31 George, my boy, when a girl really loves you she’ll wade through hell for you unprotected and with her hair unleashed and streaming defiantly behind her as Love’s Unconquerable Flag. You’re the whole works to her—from the engineer to the president, and the directors and stockholders heaved in for good measure. All other men, compared to you, are only acci- dents or bellhops. * * * The Modern Way A jug o’ pumpernickel, a hunk o’ buttermilk and a case of near-beer, a pinch o’ limburger and a bouquet of green onions, a ukelele, an electric fan and a fly swatter, a porch ham- mock, the Whiz Bang, a package of cigarettes, a few jazz records and a chicken and you couldn’t wish Harding’s job on me! * * * As the old Hebrew walked across the golf links, a ball bounced off his head with consid- erable force. He turned angrily upon the golfer. “Say,” he yelled, “You want to kill me?” “I sue you for fife tousand dollars.” “Didn’t you hear me? I said ‘Fore.’ ” “All right,” Ikey replied, “I’ll take it.” * * * She hangs out in our alley, but oh! what she hangs out. * * * Good Night, Shirt “See here, I will not let you go out in a frock like that.” “ Don’t be an ass, Jack. I’m not going out— I’m going to bed.”