Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #59 — page 65: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes Prohibition through a dialogue between Jock McDermott and a friend. McDermott has pledged total abstinence from alcohol, but his friend tests his resolve with increasingly tempting hypotheticals—imagining whisky filling a lake up to his knees, armpits, and chin. The joke's punchline: even faced with absurd scenarios, Jock wavers, admitting he "might mak' a wee ripple with my hand"—suggesting that total prohibition is unrealistic and human temptation will inevitably find outlets. The subsequent poem "Memories" nostalgically references pre-Prohibition pricing, mocking the government's alcohol ban as futile. The satire targets Prohibition itself as an overly strict, unenforceable policy that ignores human nature.