Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #45 — page 66: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical piece by "Cus, the Hired Man" critiques Prohibition-era bootlegging and its economic effects. The cartoon depicts a rural worker complaining about illegal moonshiners ("skinny, long, blue noses") infiltrating his community. The satire targets how bootlegging operations: - Drive up moonshine prices ("four bits a pint") - Disrupt farm labor when workers get arrested - Have paradoxically *reduced* overall alcohol consumption compared to five years prior The text ironically compares bootleggers to Joshua making the sun stand still—suggesting they've accomplished the remarkable feat of manufacturing daylight alcohol ("make the moonshine by day"). The underlying joke: Prohibition's black market has become so dysfunctional that it's actually decreased drinking rather than increased it—an unintended consequence.