BBB Pulp Pick - Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang

If you are a fan of American musicals (and who isn't) you've probably heard of "Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang". It was one of the admonitions "Professor" Harold Hill uses in Ya Got Trouble (with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for pool) to the good people of River City, Iowa in The Music Man.

Well, there actually was a pulp classic titled Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang a bawdy cartoon and joke magazine. The format resembles somewhat that adopted by the New Yorker a few years later; each issue opened with a few pages of topical comment and narrative ... and cartoons and jokes were found throughout. Capt. Billy became the launch pad for Fawcett Publishing, a vast publishing empire. [Future BBB Pulp Picks will explore Fawcett Publications and their influence on American "culture".]

Mothers of River City!
Heed the warning before it's too late!
Watch for the tell-tale sign of corruption!
The moment your son leaves the house,
Does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?
Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?
A dime novel hidden in the corn crib?
Is he starting to memorize jokes from Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang?

Oh, and by the way, while The Music Man is set in 1912, the first issue of Captain Billy's Whiz Bang did not appear until 1919.