Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 20 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from the satirical magazine *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* contains several brief jokes and humorous pieces typical of 1920s American humor: **"Those Meticulous Oculists"** mocks overly thorough doctors through a pun—a woman fears her broken glasses require full body examination. **The Abie-Ikey dialogue** uses stereotypical Jewish immigrant characters (common in period humor) to joke about marriage and respectability. **"Late Books"** presents fake book titles with puns: "Yes, I Have No More Wagon Loads" (referencing a popular song), "The Halt in the Desert" (Mustapha Smoke/mustache smoke), and "Leaky Overshoes" (Iva Cold/I've a cold). **"Ode to the Pretty Fly"** humorously assigns purposeful roles to animals while the fly merely "speculates and sings"—a gentle commentary on uselessness. **"Stand Steady, Boys"** presents a drunk and officer interaction, a stock comedic scenario. The magazine blended lowbrow humor, puns, and ethnic stereotypes typical of 1920s popular entertainment.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
18 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Those Meticulous Oculists The sweet young thing had broken her glasses. She took them to the doctor. “I’ve broken my glasses; do I have to be examined all over again?” “No, just your eyes,” the doctor sighed. * * * Abie—“Ikey, dat voman has lots of poise.” Ikey—“Aw gwan, she ain’t even married.” * * * Late Books YES, I HAVE NO MORE WAGON LOADS—BY GUS. THE HALT IN THE DESERT—BY MUSTAPHA SMOKE. LEAKY OVERSHOES—BY IVA COLD. * * * Ode to the Pretty Fly Every creature has his job, His duty to perform; The cats are here to kill the mice, Which hang around the barn; The dogs are here to bark at night, The bees are here to sting, But all the lowly fly can do Is to speculate and sing. * * * Stand Steady, Boys, While You Read Officer—“Get up out of that gutter. What have you been drinking? Your tongue it out a mile.” Drunk—“I wouldn’t care if it was all out.” * * * Oh, she’s tall and skinny, lank and lean, But she can surely love like a regular shelkerina.