Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1922 · page 23 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #32 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a "Questions and Answers" advice column from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a satirical humor magazine. The humor relies on deliberately misinterpreting questions to deliver punchlines: 1. **Willie Bohy's love dilemma**: The answer's joke is that you *can* love two people simultaneously—as long as neither knows about the other. 2. **Silverware etiquette**: The pun plays on "left for dessert"—the answer suggests keeping one piece unused rather than addressing the actual dining question. 3. **Ada Clock's lung trouble**: A crude pun—"throw out your chest" is misread literally rather than as the idiomatic phrase for pride/confidence. 4. **Booster/Knocker definitions**: Social satire. A "booster" promotes things (often dishonestly) to make sales, while a "knocker" criticizes them—but the joke suggests the knocker became cynical *after* being duped by the booster's pitch. These represent typical early-20th-century magazine humor: word-play, double meanings, and gentle social commentary wrapped in comedic advice.
📄 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 21 Questions and Answers Dear Captain Billy—I am a young man, fif- teen years old, and I am going with two girls, one fourteen and the other twenty-seven. Do you think it possible to love both of them at the same time?—Willie Bohy. No, Willie, not if they know it. * * * Dear Cap'n Bill—When the silverware for your meal consists of more than three pieces, which side do you start on, the right or left?— Konnick Essen. Start at either side, Konnick, but be sure and have one piece left for the dessert. * * * Dear Capt. Bill—Of late I have been having trouble with my lungs and thought perhaps you could suggest a remedy.—Ada Clock. Dear Ada—Merely open a window and throw out your chest. * * * Dear Capt. Billy—Please give us the defini- tion of Booster, also Knocker.—Isin Yet Tu. A Booster is a man with something to sell, and a Knocker is one who bought some of it.