Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 18 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains four humorous short pieces typical of 1920s satirical magazines: **"Have You Ever Been In This Town?"** mocks small-town bureaucratic absurdity: a one-man police force (Chief Blowberger) complains there haven't been speed violations in a week, so the village president suggests *lowering* the speed limit to create violations—circular logic for generating enforcement activity. **"Well, What's the Difference Anyway?"** is a domestic comedy about mistaken identity: a husband drinks carpet cleaner thinking it's alcohol because bottles aren't labeled, satirizing both Prohibition-era drinking and marital miscommunication. **"Sweet Essence of Perfume"** is a nonsense poem using animal characters (duck, frog, polecat) to joke about circus admissions and poverty—the polecat can't afford entry with only a bad penny. **"Touching Truth"** offers romantic advice: a cautious lover avoids hammocks with sweethearts because the furniture's swaying motion works against maintaining composure. These represent typical lightweight, family-friendly humor from the era—puns, domestic situations, and absurdist scenarios.
📄 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 Have You Ever Been In This Town? “There haven’t been no automobiles violat- ing the speed limit for over a week,” said Chief Blowberger of the Robbinsdale police force, consisting of himself. “What shall I do?” “Arrange to lower the speed limit,” replied Tom Howard, village president. * * * Well, What’s the Difference Anyway? SHE “Where’s my quart of carpet cleanser, That I put on the shelf?” HE “You should label bottles, ‘dear, I thought ’twas booze, and helped myself!” * * * Sweet Essence of Perfume A duck and a frog and a pole cat, they say, Started to town for a circus one day; The frog and the duck paid the price and went in, But the cat went on home without seeing a thing. The frog had a greenback and so was in luck— The showman accepted a bill from the duck; But poor Mr. Polecat no ticket he had, For he’d only one cent and that one was bad. * * * Touching Truth A cautious lover will never sit in a ham- mock with his sweetheart; he knows everything is against him.