Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, August 1922 · page 21 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #36 — page 21: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from **Captain Billy's Whiz Bang** (a 1920s-era American humor magazine) contains a satirical advice column and humorous poems/jokes. The content reflects period attitudes through ribald humor: **Key elements:** - **"Captain Billy"** appears to be the magazine's advice columnist, answering reader questions with deliberately crude jokes - The jokes traffic in gendered insults (suggesting a woman married for money) and ethnic stereotypes (referring to an Italian music publisher as "a musical wop") - **"So Would You!"** is a limerick mocking a female songwriter who sells her work to a music publisher - The final section ridicules a traveling salesman's poverty, attributing it to having nine children and living near a fire station (implying financial recklessness and lower-class status) The satire targets romantic naivety, female ambition, ethnic minorities, and working-class men. The humor relies on period prejudices now considered offensive, typical of early 20th-century American comedy magazines.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang 19 cals and appeared in tights?—Marguerita. We have never seen you but probably they would say that your husband married you for your money. * * * Dear Captain Billy—Can you tell me where I can get a pair of golf stockings?—Jack O. Lantern. Wear a pair old socks until you get eighteen holes in them. * * * Dear Billy—Do diamonds come from oys- ters?—Miss Vege Tibbles. No! Pearls come from oysters and diamonds usually from some poor fish. * * * So Would You! A maiden, who wrote of big cities Some songs full of love, fun and pities, Sold her stuff at the shop Of a musical wop, Who played all her soft little ditties. * * * Caller: “Is my wife home?” Maid: “Who may I say called?” * * * But Well Taken Care of First traveling man—“And what is your home state?” Second traveling man, with a sigh —“Very poor. My wife has nine children and we live next to a fire house.