Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, February 1922 · page 6 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #30 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is satirical commentary on **William Jennings Bryan**, the famous politician and three-time presidential candidate who had recently moved to Miami. The author mocks Bryan's association with keeping Florida "bone-dry"—enforcing Prohibition—while ironically noting there are plenty of "damp rascals" (illegal drinkers) around anyway. The joke centers on Bryan's religious activism: he's too busy addressing Baptist conventions and giving Bible talks to socialize, yet the narrator sarcastically credits him with Florida's dry laws while simultaneously contradicting this by finding alcohol readily available. The subsequent Atlanta section satirizes women's fashion choices conflicting with the **Eighteenth Amendment** (Prohibition, ratified 1919). The implication is that Atlanta women's revealing hats/clothing violate the moral standards supposedly upheld by Prohibition advocates—highlighting the hypocrisy of selective moral enforcement. The satire criticizes both Prohibition's ineffectiveness and the religious hypocrisy of its champions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
4 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang liberty I hied forth towards Miami to see if I might not be able to obtain a “wee snifter.” Miami is now the legal home of William Jen- nings Bryan and I did not have much luck in satisfying an unquenchable thirst. Anyway, if I did, it wouldn’t be nice to tell about. Mr. Bryan may have something to do with keeping Miami and the State of Florida bone-dry— which it isn’t—so more power to him. Florida may be dry, but in the immortal words of our snuff-chewing hired man, I am pleased to re- port that there are a lot of “damp rascals” here. Understand the Floridians are seriously considering Bryan for United States Senator. Had the pleasure today of driving through the backyard of the Commoner’s palatial home, but all I could see was the rear door and his smoke- house. Mr. Bryan was too busy addressing a Baptist convention to even invite me to lunch. Tomorrow he is slated for a Bible talk in the city park and if I get up in time, and feel all right, shall listen to his discourse. (Later, didn’t get up in time.) * * * AFTER leaving Chicago I stopped at Atlanta for a few days’ sojourn. Here we struck nice warm sunshine. The Atlanta ladies are a genial lot, but their cos- tuming somewhat crashes with the constitu- tional scheme of affairs as laid down by the eighteenth amendment. Their hats are full of