Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, February 1922 · page 60 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #30 — page 60: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate joke items from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a humor magazine popular in the early 20th century. **"The Busted Air Hose"** depicts ethnic stereotyping typical of the era—an Italian street vendor speaking in exaggerated dialect sells busts of Garibaldi and George Washington. An American deliberately breaks the Garibaldi bust as a prank; the vendor retaliates by destroying the Washington statue. The "joke" relies on crude ethnic caricature (the vendor is called "the wop") and presents immigrant-American conflict as comedic. **"That Ought to Cool It"** is a double-entendre joke: Jerry claims he needs to cool his car's engine before climbing a hill, but Gwendoline's suggestion to "strip the gears" is presented as an innocent (if mechanically nonsensical) alternative—the humor derives from sexual innuendo the reader supplies. **"Tweet, Tweet"** is a domestic violence joke: a man claims he never argued with his wife except once, then reveals a scar, implying she attacked him violently. The "humor" comes from presenting spousal violence as amusing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
58 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang The Busted Air Hose An Italian was selling plaster of paris busts of great personages on the streets in New York. His cry was “Garibaldi, the greata man ina Italy, George Wash tha greata man ina United States. Tena centa each.” An American, thinking to have some fun with him, took one of his busts of Garibaldi, dropped it on the pavement and said, “To hell with your Garibaldi.” The wop, not to be outdone, took one of his statues of Washington, threw it on the sidewalk, and said “To hell with your Georga Wash.” * * * That Ought to Cool It Jerry recently took Gwendoline for a ride in his new car and returned rather late. Approaching a steep hill he stopped the car, got out and raised the hood. “What’s the matter now,” asked Gwen. “I must cool the engine before I try to make that hill,” replied Jerry. “Oh, goodness alive,” said Gwen, “It is getting so awfully late. Why don’t you strip the gears?” * * * Tweet, Tweet “I never spoke a cross word to my wife but once.” “Quite remarkable, that.” “Not so very. See that scar?”