Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, October 1921 · page 53 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #25 — page 53: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains short satirical jokes from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a 1920s American humor magazine. Key themes: **WWI References**: The first joke mocks pacifists by having a British soldier ("Tommy") outwit an anti-war speaker in Hyde Park—suggesting pacifists lack practical wisdom. **Prohibition Era**: Multiple jokes reference Prohibition (1920-1933). One sarcastically notes that umbrellas with curved handles hang over bars—implying bars still operated illegally. Another jokes that eating corn and drinking water in "Robbinsdale" recreates 'good old days' before alcohol was banned. **Social Commentary**: Other jokes target gender dynamics (men carrying women to avoid wet feet; women's emotional recklessness) and orphans, using cynical humor typical of the era. The magazine's tone is irreverent and cynical, mocking contemporary figures, institutions, and social conventions through short quips rather than illustrated cartoons on this page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
51 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Lost, Almost A pacifist orator in Hyde Park, London, was proclaiming against war. Seeing a returned soldier listening on the edge of the crowd, he roared out: “See that man! He is garbed in the uniform of war. But I belong to the army of heaven.” The “Tommy,” leisurely removing his pipe from his mouth, dryly replied: “You’re a ’ell of a way from your barracks, then.” * * * The height of Sir Walter Raleighnism was observed at a bathing beach last month, when a young man carried a bathing suit clad girl from boat to shore through six inches of water so the poor dear would not get her feet wet. * * * Blessed are the orphan children, for they have no mothers to spank them. Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. * * * All we have to do in Robbinsdale to feel the spirit of the good old days is to eat an ear of corn and drink a pint of water. * * * Since the country is dry why manufacture umbrellas with crooked handles to hang over bars? * * * If a woman can’t break some man’s heart she gets reckless and breaks her own. * * * Wise men never borrow trouble when they can borrow money instead.