The Wasp — 1896 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page features "The Old Maid's Diary," a serialized humor column with decorative header illustration. The text is a first-person account from an unmarried woman complaining about domestic troubles—specifically about a neighboring family, the Wilfiels, and their problematic servant situation. The column satirizes several contemporary concerns: women's domestic labor, servant management difficulties, and anxieties about unmarried women's status. The narrator's bitter tone about observing others' family chaos while remaining single appears to be the central satirical point. The page includes portrait illustrations of women and an advertisement for Ruinart champagne. The overall content targets educated, middle-class readers familiar with domestic management challenges of the era.