Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1922 · page 11 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #32 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three humorous anecdotes from an early 20th-century American satirical magazine. The first joke targets druggists (pharmacists). A Minneapolis pill pusher requests jokes about his profession. The setup involves a druggist at a convention who's called "out of order" by the chairman—but he responds that he "never felt better in my life," implying he's intoxicated on pharmaceutical products. The humor plays on stereotypes about druggists potentially abusing their access to medicines. The second anecdote is a tall tale about ice fishing at Breezy Point, describing an absurdly inefficient method (using a hammer to stun fish rather than hooks). The third mocks American businessmen in Cuba, satirizing their aggressive hustle and willingness to sell anything—even fabricated or nonsensical items ("boneless elephant," "throatless frog")—to fellow Americans. It suggests American expatriates exploit each other's commercial instincts. The overall tone is lighthearted mockery of professional stereotypes and American behavior abroad.
📄 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 9 "DEAR BILLY," writes Chris Corey, a Minneapolis pill pusher, "You are always writing jokes about other tradesmen but nothing about we druggists. Now, you know we all handle the Whiz Bang and are great boosters for it, so please give us a joke about the pill pounders." All right, Chris, here's one, having to do with your recent convention of druggists in Minneapolis—The chairman rapped with his gavel, "You are out of order, sir!" "I beg your pardon, Mr. Chairman," responded the speaker, "I never felt better in my life." * * * They have a new way of catching whitefish at Breezy Point in the winter months. The fisherman repairs to the frozen over river with a hammer, a saw and a can of peas. He cuts a hole in the ice, sprinkles the peas around the edge of the hole and when the fish comes up to take a bite he hits him over the head with the hammer. * * * AMERICANS in Cuba for the most part are strictly business. I hadn't been in Havana twenty-four hours until fellow citizens tried to sell me the Malecon; Morro Castle; the Almendares; a boneless elephant; some finless fish; fiddlers' soup; and a throatless frog. I'll tell you our brother Americans in Cuba are great for business.