Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1922 · page 60 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #31 — page 60: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s-era humor magazine) contains three brief comedic pieces: **"They Shot Spitballs"** satirizes military exercises by mocking their absurdity. The joke: defending forces "destroy" a bridge by posting a notice, then are bewildered when attackers cross anyway—while pantomiming swimming. The Major's retort ("swimming the dang river") highlights how rigid rule-following in war games becomes ridiculous when soldiers mime actions instead of actually performing them. The humor lies in the gap between military procedures and practical reality. **"Let's Now Sing"** is a brief, cheeky verse about an attractive woman with contradictory qualities (naughty yet classy)—typical lowbrow magazine humor of the era. **"The Morning Mail"** contains two unrelated quips: a pun on "Daily Undershirt" (likely poking fun at newspaper names), and an observation about women's beauty being simultaneously advantageous and problematic—a dated, somewhat cynical attitude reflecting era attitudes toward gender. The overall tone is irreverent, military-focused, and aimed at working-class male readers.
📄 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 They Shot Spitballs A good story is told on our old friend Colonel Luce of the Minnesota National Guard. Two battalions of the Colonel's regiment were staging a sham battle at their summer encampment. The defending forces took possession of a small hill overlooking a river and destroyed the only bridge by the simple method of tacking up a notice on it stating that they had done so. As a result it was quite a surprise to them to see the attacking forces swarming across the bridge, making extraordinary motions in front of them with their hands. "Hold on there, men!" shouted the Colonel's aide from the observer's post, "you can't cross that bridge. It has been blown up." "Tuhel with that!" retorted the Major of the other side, "we're not crossing it, can't you see we are swimming the dang river?" * * * Let's Now Sing I love a lassie, She's naughty, but, She's classy. * * * The Morning Mail When we were in the army we used to read "The Daily Undershirt." * * * A woman's beauty is always a liability, although at times considered a big asset.