The Wasp — 1896 — page 170: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the practice of using Lenten fasting as justification for luxury spending. Two well-dressed women discuss economizing during Lent—Christianity's fasting season—by restricting their diet to save money for "poison-oak remedies and a trip to the seaside resorts." The satire targets Victorian-era hypocrisy: wealthy women claimed religious devotion through fasting, while actually using the savings to fund leisure activities and medical treatments for ailments (possibly venereal diseases, given the veiled reference to "poison-oak"). The cartoon mocks both false piety and the disconnect between professed self-sacrifice and actual indulgence among the affluent. The quote references "Old Maid's Diary," suggesting this appeared in The Wasp's satirical fiction section.