Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 14 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains three brief humorous items with no visible cartoons or caricatures: 1. **A sentimental toast** about friendship's tears, submitted by a female reader. 2. **A joke about Deacon Callahan**, a rural neighbor. When offered advice about New York sightseeing, he cleverly reverses the offer, asking instead what to *avoid*—a witty deflation of tourist guidance. 3. **Commentary on the short skirt controversy**, a major 1920s social debate. The piece cites English sources showing overwhelming preference for short skirts over long ones. Lady Diana Manners's quoted quip—that skirt length depends on intended activity—is presented as clever pragmatism, mocking the earnestness of the debate. The satire suggests the controversy itself is absurd, as practicality should determine fashion, not ideology. The page's humor relies on American rural common sense and gentle mockery of British formality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
12 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang ONE of my Whiz Bang friends writes in a request that I publish a toast. She doesn't specify her subject but here goes: "Here's to the tears of friendship. May they crystallize in falling over cheeks and be worn as jewels on the breasts of those we love and be handed down as heirlooms to bring memories to the hearts of children yet unborn." * * * OUR second neighbor down the road, Deacon Callahan, isn't slow even if he has been following a cultivator most of his life. Deacon was going to New York, his first visit in many years. I volunteered to tell him what he ought to see. "Never mind about that," replied the Deacon. "Tell me what I ought not to see." * * * THE English are outspoken people—both men and women. Says one English paper, the Evening Carmelíte: "Old Catton (Norfolk) Women's Institute had a lively discussion of 'Long vs. Short Skirts' and on a vote being taken only one hand went up for long skirts." It is when hands go up that the popularity of the short skirt becomes evident. Lady Diana Manners sums up the same skirt controversy in the Winning Post (London) in one deathless sentence: "If you ask me what should be the length of the skirt, you must first tell me what you are going to do in it."