Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1921 · page 7 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #28 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous anecdote column, not a political cartoon. The page recounts a visit to Los Angeles and a friend named Dick Ferris, who operates an establishment called the "Ferris Harem." The humor relies on several period jokes: an umbrella story (presented as corny but still effective in small towns like Robbinsdale, Minnesota) about a churchgoer leaving during the Ten Commandments reading to retrieve his umbrella; and a quip about Dick bobbing his hair, joking that if hair equaled brains, "an old-fashioned parlor sofa would be vice president" (unclear reference, possibly a political jab). The piece name-drops various entertainment and sports figures of the era—race driver Roscoe Sarles, actor Julian Eltinge, and others—as patrons of Ferris's establishment, positioning it as a glamorous gathering place for celebrities and working-class people alike.
📄 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 5 veitory. Los Angeles youth will then be lim- ited to such amusement as may be gleaned from shooting craps, joy-riding, dancing at road- houses, poker and looking for one's umbrella. This umbrella story has spinach on it, but in small towns like Robbinsdale it is still good. Has to do with the church-goer who arose hur- riedly and left the church as the pastor was in the midst of reading the Ten Commandments. He explained to the pastor afterward that it had just been recalled to his memory where he had left his umbrella. However, we didn't travel all the way out to California to find our umbrella—or to lose one—and it is nobody's business except our old Minneapolis friend, Dick Ferris, if we did. Dick is living at the Alex in Los Angeles and is one of Southern California's most popular and esteemed citizens. Dick has begun bobbing his hair since his early days in Minneapolis, but says that if hair was brains an old-fash- ioned parlor sofa would be vice president. Dick is one of the best entertainers in the Southland. One can step inside the “Ferris Harem” almost any time of day or night and meet anybody from “diggers of the ditches” to the “dignitaries of the ducats.” Roscoe Sarles, famous race driver; Bill Pickens, Barney Oldfield's old manager; Julian Eltinge, the actor; Harry Grayson, sports editor of the Express; “Scotty” Chisholm, golf editor and star; King Young publicity director