Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, December 1924 · page 12 of 71
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #67 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three brief humorous anecdotes typical of 1920s American comic magazines: 1. **Bicycle vs. Cow**: A salesman tries convincing a rural farmer to buy a bicycle instead of a cow. The joke plays on practical absurdity—the farmer's retort that he couldn't milk a bicycle is a witty deflation of the salesman's pitch. 2. **"Dragon" on Hennepin Avenue**: A child asks her mother what a dragon is while walking in Minneapolis. The mother's confused response ("don't scare me again") suggests she mistook the question for a reference to something frightening nearby—likely the child pointing at an unfamiliar urban sight, possibly an exotic advertisement or storefront. 3. **Deacon Miller's Comeuppance**: A husband teases his wife by suggesting braying mules are her relatives. She delivers a sharp retort: they're relatives "by marriage"—implying *his* family resembles the mules, turning his insult back on him. All three jokes rely on rural/urban contrasts and wordplay typical of early 20th-century American humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
[Captain Billy's Whiz Bang] An enterprising bicycle salesman from St. Paul was trying to persuade a Pequot farmer to buy a bicycle. “I’d rather spend my money on a cow,” said he. “But think what a fool you’d look riding on a cow,” said the salesman. “Not half such a fool as I’d look trying to milk a bicycle!” retorted the farmer. “Ma,” whispered Lizzie Callahan, during a walk down Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, “what’s a dragon?” “Nothing,” said Ma looking around, “and don’t scare me again like that.” DEACON MILLER has a great habit of teasing his wife. He took her out riding in his new flivver not long ago and met up with a Rockford farmer driving a span of mules. Just as they were about to pass the farmer’s rig the mules turned their heads toward the auto and brayed vociferously. Turning to his wife, the husband remarked: “Relatives of yours, I suppose?” “Yes,” said the wife, sweetly, “by marriage.” =[10]=