Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1923 · page 47 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #44 — page 47: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine contains several poems and humorous pieces typical of early 20th-century American humor: **"Why Won't the Men Propose?"** mocks the social anxiety of unmarried women in their thirties, who were considered past marriageable age by contemporary standards. **"Mebee So! Mebbe So!"** is a sentimental poem about romantic love and mortality—asking whether posthumous fame matters if one's beloved doesn't mourn them. **"The Man and His Job"** offers moralistic advice: hardworking men who love their labor are virtuous, while complainers are lazy or dishonest. This reflects early 20th-century work-ethic ideology. **"A Good Old Scout on Our Rural Route"** uses gentle satire: a farmer named McVay was victimized by a confidence man (con artist) operating under the guise of kindness on the rural mail route. The page also solicits reader submissions for poems like "Kelly's Dream" and "Why Change the Name of Arkansas?"—suggesting community participation in the magazine.
📄 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 47 For I am thirty-one; At balls I am too often left Where spinsters sit in rows; Why won't the men propose, mama? Why won't the men propose? * * * A Whiz Bang reader wants the poem: “Kelly’s Dream.” Who has it? Captain Billy also would like to have some kind reader send in the masterpiece of the Southwest: “Why Change the Name of Arkansas?” * * * Mebee So! Mebbe So! Do you suppose, if all the world, some day, Should come around my grave and say, “Here lies one who can never be forgot”— I should care aught for it if you came not?” But if alone you came and said with tears— “Here lies one tha’ I love”—ah, then the years Since we had met would quickly fade away, And heaven for me be reckoned from that day. * * * The Man and His Job I haven’t much faith in the man who complains, Of the work he has chosen to do. He’s lazy, or else he’s deficient in brains, And, maybe, a hypocrite too. He’s likely to cheat and he’s likely to rob; Away with the man who finds fault with his job! But give me the man with the sun in his face, And the shadows all dancing behind, Who can meet his reverses with calmness and grace, And never forgets to be kind; For whether he’s wielding a scepter or swab, I have faith in the man who’s in love with his job. * * * A Good Old Scout on Our Rural Route A goodly old farmer, McVay, Worked hard on his farm every day, But he met a kind man, On the confidence plan, And now he is back making hay.