Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1922 · page 31 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #31 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains five brief jokes typical of 1920s-30s American humor magazines: 1. **"This Can't Be True"**: A domestic infidelity joke where a husband catches his wife with his best friend. The punchline plays on the friend's shamelessness—he'll happily return if tempted by such "bait." 2. **"On Picket Duty"**: A labor pun. "Striking" references both a fashionable dress and labor strikes; the "union suit" (a type of undergarment) creates a double meaning about union membership. 3. **Murphy's clothes line**: Dark humor about a man's suicide, with his wife making a practical joke about her missing laundry line. 4. **"A Thing of Beauty"**: A quip mocking women's beauty expenses. 5. **"Where Words Failed"**: A joke about a Welsh station name so difficult to pronounce (Llanfairfeshawpwllgogerych) that a guard gives up and simply announces "If there's anybody there for here, this is it."—poking fun at Welsh language complexity. These reflect era-typical attitudes toward infidelity, labor, and regional/linguistic differences.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
29 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang This Can't Be True A traveling man had missed his train and went back to his home. He took his pass keys out of his pocket, opened the door, and to his great surprise his wife was sitting on his best friend's lap, and kissing him. “Smith, I’ve set a trap for you and caught you,” shouted the irate husband. Smith replied, “With bait like this, you can catch me any time!” * * * On Picket Duty “That was a striking gown your girl wore last night.” “Yes; that was her union suit.” * * * When Mrs. Murphy saw her husband hang-ing in the stable she said, “so that’s where my clothes line went!” * * * A Thing of Beauty is an expense forever. * * * Where Words Failed The new guard was not familiar with a certain railway run in Wales. Came a station which rejoiced in the name of Llanfair-feshapwllgogerych. For a few minutes he stood looking at the sign board in mute help-lessness. Then, pointing to the board and wav-ing his other arm toward the carriages, he called, “If there’s anybody there for here, this is it.”—Western Christian Advocate.