Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1922 · page 17 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #35 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s humor magazine) presents a Q&A advice column with satirical jokes targeting early 1920s social anxieties. The humor relies on: 1. **Marriage/divorce mockery** — "Matrimony" as divorce's cause reflects post-WWI skepticism about marriage 2. **1920s flapper culture** — The slang "Oh, my yes!" mocks young women's affectations 3. **Ethnic stereotyping** — The final letter uses "dago" (a slur for Italian immigrants) and puns "Ashes to ashes" as dismissive advice about a romantic relationship 4. **Crude animal/bodily humor** — Cat/mouse and milking references typical of the era's lowbrow comedy The column's anonymous questioners have comedic pseudonyms. The tone is cynical about love, marriage, and modernizing social behavior—characteristic of post-WWI American satire aimed at middle-class readers.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
16 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang with a pail between his legs waiting for a cow to back up to be milked. * * * Dear Captain Billy—What is rouge?—Oyle Kann. Canned sunshine. * * * Dear Captain Billy—What is the principal cause for so many divorces?—Knuts Gazoobus. Matrimony. * * * Captain Billy—Why does a cat swallow a mouse head first?—Willie Gettit. So she can use the mouse's tail for a tooth pick. * * * Captain Billy—Is it true that your hired man, Ikey, walks in his sleep?—G. Raff. Yes, he needs the exercise. * * * Dear Captain Bill—What is the favorite slang expression of the 1922 Flapper?—Min. “Oh, my yes!” * * * Dear Skipper—I'm a lovelorn and lonesome lassie and am very infatuated with a San Diego dago. When I dance with him my lips are ashen with passion and I know, too, that he is in love with me because his lips also are ashen with passion. What shall we do?—A Classy Lassie. Ashes to ashes.