Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1921 · page 65 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #28 — page 65: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains reader letters with editorial responses—a common magazine feature where editors humorously reject or critique submissions. The "Captain Billy's" masthead indicates this is from a popular American humor magazine known for ribald, working-class comedy. The responses mock contributors through absurdist jokes: a fake explanation of a "Whuzzat" (a made-up tobacco-chewing railroad dog), crude advice about getting false teeth (kick a bull dog), and sarcastic restaurant criticism. The humor targets common people's manners and speech—blowing on hot coffee, spitting tobacco, poor dancing ability—reflecting period anxieties about etiquette and social class. Most are simple insult jokes typical of early-20th-century comic magazines. The editor rejects one submission as "not clean," suggesting content standards even for a magazine known for coarse humor. The tone is working-class, irreverent satire aimed at ordinary readers.
📄 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 63 Nisbet—You're like the Scotchman who said "Don't be backward in coming forward." * * * Luscious Lizzie—It is not considered cor- rect table manners to blow on your coffee to cool it. You had better pour it in your saucer. * * * Silas Sawyer—Chewing tobacco is all right in its place. Refrain, however, from using it for decorative purposes. * * * Al B. Kirk—A Whuzzat is a trained tobacco- chewing dog employed by the Southern Railway to run alongside of fast express trains to spit on the coach trucks to keep the hot boxes from burning. * * * Fat Man—Your meaning is not quite clear. Do I understand you to say you cannot dance except with a concave partner? * * * Johnny—I can't use your story of the stove- pipe. It isn't clean. * * * Sapp—If you want a set of teeth inserted, would advise that you go and kick some cross bull dog. * * * Restauranteur—A swell meal would be dried apples and water, and you can get a chicken dinner for ten cents at any feed store.