Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, January 1922 · page 7 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #29 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humorous anecdote from an American satirical magazine, likely early 20th century. The joke concerns Bobby Nelson, a chronic gambler among schoolchildren. The setup: Bobby's father enlists the schoolteacher to cure him of betting. Bobby wagers that the teacher has a wart on her knee. The teacher, confident she doesn't, accepts the bet to make Bobby lose and reform him. She wins the two-dollar bet. **The punchline**: When she proudly tells Bobby's father how she "cured" him, he reveals Bobby actually *won*—he'd bet his father ten dollars that morning that he'd see the teacher's knee before day's end. By accepting the wager and proving her knee, she inadvertently fulfilled Bobby's bet. The satire mocks both adult naiveté and the clever manipulation of a habitual young gambler who outsmarts even those trying to help him. The final line about New York needing "cold cash to have a hot time" shifts to general cynicism about urban morality.
📄 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 You'll find it a fact that your own little town Is the best little town after all. * * * BOBBY NELSON, our neighbor's boy, is the worst kid in the world for betting, and the unusual feature of it is he usually wins. Bobby's father took the matter up with the school marm to see if she couldn't break him of the gambling habit, promising her a reward if successful. The other morning when Bobby came to school he wanted to bet teacher she had a wart on her right knee and the school marm, know- ing better, and thinking she had an opportunity to win a bet from Bobby and by so doing, dis- courage his betting habit, accepted Bobby's challenge. After school that evening teacher proved Bobby was wrong and won the two dollar bet. She then called on old man Nelson. "Mr. Nelson, I have broken Bobby of the betting habit. It was a little embarrassing, but this is how it was—Bobby bet me two dol- lars I had a wart on my right knee and in order to make him lose and cure him of the betting habit I accepted his challenge." "Lady! Lady! Why did you do it? Bobby bet me this morning ten dollars that he would see your knee before the day was out." * * * In naughty old New York you need cold cash to have a hot time.