Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 18 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains several short satirical pieces mocking early 1920s American culture and social trends: **"Farmer, Farmer"** jokes about rural/urban cultural divide: an unsophisticated farmer visiting the Chicago Art Museum finds modern abstract art incomprehensible, yet expects it cost only a quarter—satirizing both rural philistinism and the perceived pretension of modern art. **The "Culture" poem** mocks interpretative dance as incomprehensible nonsense that viewers must guess at rather than understand. **The doll joke** appears to reference women's changing roles post-WWI, sarcastically suggesting inventors should create dolls mimicking modern girls' exclamations. **"Lord Jeff's Tribute"** uses slang ("ears," "knockout," "hardware") to describe a flapper at a modern dance—a "modern girl" who dances energetically ("stags wore shinguards" means male partners needed protection), knows fashion ("hardware" = jewelry/accessories), and is assertively social. **Final line**: References Prohibition (1920-1933), sarcastically claiming tight skirts (associated with flappers and modernity) disappeared when Prohibition began, implying modern women's fashion reflected pre-Prohibition excess. Overall: satire of 1920s cultural modernization and generational conflict.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
16 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Farmer, Farmer, Sitting On the Fence A farmer and his wife once visited the Chicago Art Museum. They both seemed a good deal impressed, but the old farmer himself was almost stupefied by all the white, gleaming pictures. As they left, he was heard to say with a sigh: “Well, Hannah, I never expected to see as much as this for a quarter.” * * * Culture is achieved When one guesses At the first guess What the flaming hades An interpretative dancer Is interpreting. * * * THIS LAST CHRISTMAS INDICATES THE NEED OF AN INVENTOR WHO'LL INVENT A DOLL THAT'LL SAY, “OH, BOY!” WHEN YOU SQUEEZE HER. * * * Lord Jeff's Tribute to a Modern Girl (In a modern lingua) I met a girl at a dance last night, She was the ears! Her eyes—knockout! Could she dance?—oh boy! Did she get away?— Well, the stags wore shinguards! Was she beautiful?—I'll say so! And how she did know her hardware! Some girl! * * * Tight skirts went out with prohibition.