History
Upon return as a World War I Doughboy Captain Billy Fawcett started a publication in Robbinsdale called Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, which was the first publication of Fawcett Publications. It was a magazine that was similar to National Lampoon. Subscriptions were sold to WWI Doughboys to help keep them in touch and let people know about the war.
It gained its name from bombs that were being used during the war. They were land-to-land bombs that flew overhead. When they flew overhead they made a "Whiz" sound and when they landed it went "Bang". Thus the name of the publication was created.
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang publication ran for approximately 20 to 30 years. Also stemming from the Fawcett Publications house was other well known magazines as McCall's and the Redbook.
The Fawcett Publications building stood in Robbinsdale for many years, and was torn down roughly 15 years ago. Its location is now what is the terrace for the new Thistles restaurant in downtown Robbinsdale.
Just over 60 years ago the City of Robbinsdale started their city celebration and was trying to come up with a new name for it. With the war going on at the same time and Billy Fawcett's publication business in Robbinsdale, it made sense that they would tie into the magazine and its title "Whiz Bang" and thus our community celebration of "Whiz Bang Days" was created.