Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1923 · page 36 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #44 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical commentaries from an early 1920s American humor magazine: 1. **The "Double Standard" Piece**: Critiques female hypocrisy. It argues that modern women demand equality with men, yet judge other women harshly for sexual indiscretions ("having a past"). The satire highlights the contradiction between feminist claims and conservative social judgment. 2. **The Germany/Oyster Joke**: Dark post-WWI humor. References Germany's war reparations debt while suggesting that at least oyster supplies will improve—trivializing serious economic consequences through absurdist contrast. 3. **The Water Wagon Joke**: A Prohibition-era gag. The "water wagon" (representing temperance) carries passengers who paradoxically carry "flagons" (alcohol containers). The joke mocks the failure of Prohibition enforcement, with drinkers making ironic pledges to abstain in 1923. All three pieces employ sarcasm and irony typical of Whiz Bang's satirical style, targeting post-war American social contradictions and the unpopular Prohibition law.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
36 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang There never was a time when social distinc- tions should be less venomous than today. A thousand ways are open to the erring that were closed in the past. Forgetting the past, one can rise about the “closed incident,” and forge on to better things. If a man can redeem himself and society receive him with open arms and forget, why cannot the same attitude be assumed to the girl who is honest in the same endeavor? The ad- vanced woman of the modern type declares that she must have the same privileges as the man. And, yet, this very woman will draw her skirt a little tighter when she finds out that her neighbor woman has had a “past.” * * * GERMANY may be made to pay or she may not; we may have to send all the gold we have left to Europe but the philoso- pher will console himself with the thought that the oyster supply will be larger and better than ever this season. * * * Scotland is one country that is at least mak- ing an effort to liquidate its debt. * * * THIS year the water wagon carries no flag, but every passenger wages a flagon. Every single and separate passenger has taken a solemn oath to never, never drop a drink during 1923. They all sing with much