Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, March 1924 · page 63 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #57 — page 63: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains no cartoons—it's a humor section reprinting absurd classified ads and headlines from real newspapers. The satire works through **incongruity and double meanings**. The jokes exploit awkward phrasing in genuine advertisements: - "Downtown Girls" and "Everybody Welcome" set up expectations for entertainment venues, but advertise mundane services (roomers, women's clothing) - "Classy-fied" plays on a woman mistaking a stranger for her husband at a masquerade - "Why Not Feed Him Oil Meal?" repurposes an agricultural headline as innuendo - "Strayed or Stolen" absurdly describes a chicken as lost "from machine" - "Not Bragging, Of Course" uses euphemistic language ("understands her business") to imply the widow seeks a gentleman caller for undisclosed purposes The humor targets small-town America's naive, unintentionally suggestive classified ads. By reprinting real notices from actual regional papers (Ohio Tribune, Miami Herald, etc.), *Whiz Bang* mocks both the advertisers' accidental impropriety and period attitudes toward propriety itself.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
58 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Downtown Girls (From the Ohio Tribune) Wanted—Two lady roomers, centrally located and modern. Write "D. D." * * * Everybody Welcome (From Baudette Region) Why not come and see what Margaret C. Johnson has in Women's Wear. * * * Classy-fied (From the Los Angeles News) "Will young man whom I mistook to be my husband, during intermission, at the masquerade ball, last eve. please call me at 628-P?" Gratenuts. * * * Why Not Feed Him Oil Meal? (Headline, "Literary Digest," December 15, 1923) A good fuel from Peat at Last? * * * Slamming Friend Wife (From Lansing State Journal) LAPEER 1007—Furnished room for man and wife or lady. * * * Strayed or Stolen (From the Attleboro Sun) PERSON WHO LOST dressed chicken from machine will find same by calling at 17 Hodges St. Tel. 638-R. * * * Sweethearts in Every Port (From St. Louis Post-Dispatch) GIRL PRESSERS—To press middy blouses. Schwarz & Wild. 1508 Washington, 5th floor. * * * Not Bragging, Of Course (From Miami (Fla.) Herald) REFINED widow will keep house for gentleman. One who understands her business. Best reference. Box F-87, Herald.