Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #45 — page 13: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical column contains three brief anecdotes mocking contemporary issues: 1. **Mental suggestion/Coueism**: The author received $1.75 in silver change, apparently as a "mental suggestion" experiment—satirizing the popular Coué method of self-improvement through positive affirmation. 2. **Prohibition-era bootlegging**: The piece jokes that bootleggers profited after cigarette sales became illegal in some states, creating a new black-market revenue stream. Cigarettes now cost "six bits a box"—expensive by the era's standards. 3. **National emblem redesign**: An anecdote about reconstructing the American flag to include baseballs, golf balls, and footballs to celebrate outdoor sports—mocking nationalistic jingoism and American sports obsession. The humor targets 1920s fads, unintended consequences of Prohibition, and American culture.