Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, July 1922 · page 49 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #35 — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* contains several short humorous commentary pieces rather than traditional cartoons. The first section mocks a melodramatic scenario (likely from pulp fiction or cinema): an aristocratic English lady maintains her composure and class pretenses even while being kidnapped by an escaped convict, worrying afterward about propriety—a jab at upper-class pretension and rigid social codes. The subsequent sections present tongue-in-cheek philosophical observations on gender relations, arguing women subtly rule men despite appearing submissive. One passage sarcastically compares animal and human mating behavior. The drinking joke references Prohibition-era anxiety: five years prior, drunk men sang secular songs; now they sing hymns, suggesting increased drunkenness or moral decline. The final note defends female nudity in art as morally acceptable when the body is "perfect" enough—likely satirizing contemporary debates over artistic expression and censorship during the 1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
48 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang she's a lady. Even when the escaped felon drags her out of her bed in a simple nightie she never forgets. The convict apparently carries her all over London, but she's patrician and all that sort of thing even with the nightie hanging by one shred. We can imagine her saying, after the hero rescues her, "This fellow was a bit rough, you know, but it was rather jolly, eh what? But do you really think a lady should do this sort of thing for the lower clawsses?" The poor convict really touched our heart. Such steadfastness of purpose! * * * *In the animal kingdom the female makes the male beauti- ful so that she can endure his caresses. In the human family she makes herself beautiful in order to ensnare the male, rule over him, and by the same token make the world a safe place for decent folks to live in.* *Man alone is a vicious fighting numb-skull, who would soon annihilate himself by war. Man is the great High Maffiffer and woman his shrinking little companion, on the surface of things. Subtly she has always ruled him; even back in the days when she was his chattel and could be sold with his goods.* * * * **Five years ago if you'd have four or five drinks with the boys you would sing, "Sweet Adeline," but now if you have four drinks the crowd would be singing "Nearer My God to Thee."** * * * *When flesh has reached a certain degree of perfection it has a moral right to nudity because it is beautiful. Milady's bare neck and arms are neither immodest nor out of taste.*