Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, June 1922 · page 20 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #34 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* is a humor advice column featuring punny riddles and jokes disguised as reader letters. The content relies on wordplay and period-specific references: - **Ida Knoe/Etta Lott/Omar Cayenne** are fake names that sound like punchlines when spoken aloud ("I don't know," "ate a lot," "oh, mar cayenne") - The "flappers vs. grass widows" joke references 1920s dating culture: "flappers" were modern, sexually liberated young women, while "grass widows" were women separated from husbands. The answer mocks both: flappers passively accept kisses while grass widows enthusiastically reciprocate. - The nosebleed remedy (solder—molten metal) is deliberately absurd medical advice, typical of the magazine's irreverent humor. - References like "Eskimo pie" reflect casual 1920s terminology without modern awareness of offensive implications. The format represents early 20th-century magazine humor: fake advice-seeker names that are actually jokes, absurd remedies, and cheeky commentary on contemporary social behavior, particularly regarding young women and courtship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
18 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Dear Captain Billy—What do you sleep on, brush your teeth with, sit on, and walk on?— Ida Knoe. Bed, tooth brush, chair, shoes. Righto! * * * Dear Skipper Bill—Did you hear the tale about the man with one hundred wives?—Willie Soohn De Kay. No, but it must be some story. * * * Dear Captain Billy—What is a good hot weather menu?—Etta Lott. Reindeer steak and eskimo pie. * * * Dear Doctor Billy—I am troubled with severe nosebleeds and our local physician is unable to supply me with a remedy. As you have helped many others in trouble I thought that you might be able to suggest a successful treatment.—Mrs. Pete Olson. Doctor Chaparrall says a few drops of solder applied to the nostrils will stop any nosebleed. * * * Dear Captain Billy—Why do most men appear to take more pleasure in kissing pretty flappers in preference to grass widows?—Omar Cayenne. The difference, my boy, is as between Delightful Acquiescence and Frantic Co-operation, tion,