Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 16 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* (a 1920s satirical magazine) contains reader-submitted one-liners and jokes, not cartoons. The humor targets contemporary social anxieties: **Key themes:** - **Crime/dishonesty**: The bank joke satirizes embezzlement by cashiers - **Urban vice**: References to unauthorized apartment access and neighbor nuisances (pigs in cellars) - **Modern dating**: The "express train on time" joke mocks how technology (reliable trains) prevents romantic encounters—a complaint about modern efficiency - **Fashion morality**: The short skirts reference reflects 1920s anxieties about changing women's fashion and morality - **Physical mishaps**: Shoe laces, green necks from jewelry—absurdist humor These are typical of *Whiz Bang's* format: crude, topical jokes submitted by readers from across America. The humor is intentionally lowbrow and punchy, reflecting working-class comedy sensibilities of the Jazz Age.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
14 Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang “BANKS SHOULD BE CLEANED OUT BY JANITORS AND NOT BY CASHIERS,” Irving Davidson, 244 West One Hundred and Twelfth Street, New York City, N. Y. “YOU CAN PLAY IN ANY FLAT IF YOU ONLY HAVE THE KEY,” Dollie Garkey, Box 173, Mt. Morris, Ill. Honorable mention is given by the judges as follows: “TIE UP YOUR SHOE LACES, YOUR TONGUE IS HANGING OUT,” J. Tucker, Bridgeport, Conn. “WHEN YOUR NEIGHBOR KEEPS PIGS IN THE CELLAR, YOU’RE BOUND TO GET WIND OF IT,” S. Levy, Philadelphia, Pa. “HERE, TAKE BACK YOUR NECKLACE, MY NECK IS TURNING GREEN,” Ralph A. Martin, Fostoria, Ohio. “JOHN AND HIS CAR WOULD BE WITH US TONIGHT, BUT THE EXPRESS TRAIN WAS ON TIME,” Edward W. Burkhart, Pittsburgh, Pa. “WHY WORRY OVER SHORT SKIRTS— MOTHER HUBBARD’S CUPBOARD WAS BARE,” William T. Hess, New Orleans, La.