Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, October 1921 · page 34 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #25 — page 34: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a satirical poem and editorial essay from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a popular American humor magazine of the 1920s-30s. The poem humorously reinterprets the Adam and Eve story, arguing that the devil is actually female, not male. It claims Eve's cunning—using clothing and feminine charm to manipulate Adam—proves woman is the true "devil." The piece presents this as a tongue-in-cheek gender argument: women are more devious than men because they use intellect and appearance strategically. The follow-up prose passage (beginning "Hush, my dear...") appears to shift tone, invoking sentimental maternal imagery of a mother lullabying her baby—possibly setting up a contrasting view or ironic punchline on the following page. The satire reflects 1920s-era attitudes about gender relations: anxieties about female independence and sexuality, presented as ribald humor for a male readership. The magazine's subtitle, "The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet," suggests irreverent, plainspoken commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
32 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Whiz Bang Editorials “The Bull is Mightier Than the Bullet.” Making It Perfectly Clear ALTHOUGH tradition holds the devil was masculine, there is at least one person in the world who would dispute tradition and stamp the evil one a woman. You may not agree with him, but then again you may, so here’s the poem: As the story is told, in the ages of old, The devil, a spirit, was free, To wander at will, mid the good and the ill, So the devil a roaming went he. In a garden he met an old man and his pet, And straightway enamored was he With Eve, young and cute, so he gave her some fruit, For the devil a serpent could be. Then she put on a skirt and made Adam a shirt— A cunning young vixen was she— Concealing her charms, yet displaying her arms, Till the devil he chuckled in glee. For he saw at a glance that his charms would enhance If only a female were he; So, donning her clothes, through creation he goes, And the devil a woman is she! * * * “Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber, Holy angels guard thy bed,” were the soft sweet words I heard as I passed by a little cottage home. Glancing in the open doorway, I saw a young mother rocking her baby to sleep. It recalled the voice of my