Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1921 · page 52 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #28 — page 52: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains four humor pieces typical of 1920s satirical magazines: **"Flapper Blues"** mocks the melancholic mood of young women of the Jazz Age era, expressing existential disappointment. **"Djever Hear This One?"** jokes about mistaken identity with prominent political figures—Lloyd George (British Prime Minister) and President Wilson. The punchline relies on Paddy (an Irish character stereotype) claiming someone thought he was someone important, with the pun "Great God, is that you?" implying he's unrecognizable or unremarkable. **"Pink Pills for Pale People"** parodies Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, a real patent medicine advertised heavily to women. The love letter uses elaborate vegetable puns ("carrot," "beets," "canteloupe lettuce") to mock both the product and flowery romantic language. **"Lovely Calves We're Having!"** is a visual double-entendre joke: "calves" (young cows) are confused with "bullets" (weapons)—likely referencing WWI's recent conclusion or prohibition-era violence. The humor is broadly populist, targeting politicians, commercialism, and current social anxieties.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
50 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Flapper Blues Ain't no use of living, nothing gained, Ain't no use of eating just pain, Ain't no use of kissing he'll tell, Ain't no use of nothing, Oh, well. * * * Djever Hear This One? An Englishman bragged that he was once mistaken for Lloyd George. The American boasted that he had been taken for President Wilson. Paddy said he had them all beat. “A fellow walked up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘Great God, is that you?'” * * * Pink Pills for Pale People Lydia Pinkham recently received a love letter from the vegetable compound magnate reading as follows, our correspondents report: “Do you carrot all for me? My bleeding heart beets for you. My love is as soft as a squash, but as strong as an onion. You are a peach with your radish hair and turnip nose. Your cherry lips and forget-me-not eyes call me. You are the apple of my eye, and if we can- teloupe lettuce marry for I am sure we would make a happy pear.” * * * Lovely Calves We're Having! “Oh see the darling little cow-lets!” “Miss, those are not cow-lets, they're bull- ets.”