Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1923 · page 15 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #44 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a humor advice column from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a popular American satirical magazine. The page contains jokes disguised as reader questions and answers—a common format of the era. The humor relies on puns and double meanings: "Oliver Twist" answers a contortionist question (twisting body), "shape of the limbs" distinguishes trees (gender innuendo), and "House of a Thousand Scandals" mocks the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association), suggesting moral hypocrisy. The tombstone inscription joke ("Rest until I come") implies marital dissatisfaction. "Lily O. Valley" is a pun name (lilies in valleys), and the drug store scales joke references contemporary concerns about inaccurate weighing devices—a practical consumer issue of the time. The overall tone is irreverent, risqué without being explicit, and targets institutions (the YWCA, marriage, commerce) through innuendo and wordplay typical of 1920s-era humor 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 15 Feed-Box Facts and Fancies Captain Billy—Who was the world's greatest contortionist?—Bunny Fischer. Oliver Twist. * * * Dear Captain Bill—How do you tell a male tree from a female tree?—Bill Yuss. By the shape of the limbs. * * * Dear Captain Billy—What is meant by “The House of a Thousand Scandals?” No, you are wrong. It does not refer to the Y. W. C. A. * * * Dear Captain Billy—What would be a suit-able inscription for my husband's tombstone?—Mrs. Min Agery. If you don't care for maudlin sentiment, why not say: “Rest until I come.” * * * Dear Captain Billy—I am 5 feet 5 inches tall and weigh 125 pounds stripped. Is this all right?—Lily O. Valley. One cannot tell because these drug store scales often are wrong.