Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, October 1921 · page 38 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #25 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate jokes typical of 1920s American humor magazines: **"Ikey's New Bank"**: A joke playing on Jewish stereotypes (the character name "Ikey" and "Levy"). The humor relies on a father's supposed frugality—he gives his son quarters but tells him the gas meter is a "bank," so the boy thinks he's saving money when actually feeding coins into the utility meter. **"Report From London"**: A Scottish dialect joke about an inquest. A Scottish juror argues for "accidental death" rather than suicide because the drowned man had a nearly-full whisky bottle on him—implying a Scot wouldn't waste whisky by dying, so it must be accidental. The satire mocks Scottish drinking stereotypes. **Final Joke**: A brief anecdote where a hired man awkwardly dodges answering about the foreman's fever by revealing he died—dark humor based on misunderstanding the neighbor's question. All three rely on ethnic/regional stereotypes and dialect humor common to that era's popular comedy.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
36 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Ikey's New Bank Ikey was talking to his Yiddish merchant friend in the latter's store when the dealer's young son toddled in and said, “Papa, give me some money.” The father reached in his pocket and handed the boy a quarter. His friend appeared rather shocked at the show of liberality. “Why, how much spending money do you give that kid every week?” he asked. Levy replied, “Only three quarters.” “Don't you think you're too extravagant with a child?” “Oh, no,” answered Levy, “I showed him how to put the quarters in the gas meter and he thinks it's a bank.” * * * Report From London They were holding an inquest upon poor Sandy McHarris, whose body had been taken from the Thames. Eleven of the jury were for returning a verdict of suicide, but the twelfth, a brither Scot demurred. “Hoo could it be suicide?” he asked. “Ah'm for a vairdict o' ‘Accidental death, maisel. Ye'll notice that the puir laddie had a bottle of whisky on him, and it was nearly full.” Verdict in accordance with the evidence. * * * “Say, Gus,” asked a neighbor, “I heard that the foreman has had a fever. How's his temperature today?” Our hired man scratched his head and decided not to commit himself. “Taint for me to say,” he replied. “He died last night.”