The Wasp — 1896 — page 381: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains "The Old Maids' Diary," a satirical column with illustrations mocking women's social ambitions and romantic frustrations. The main cartoon depicts a woman in a hat and coat, captioned "The Kind That Man Wants to Be Enamoured With" — appearing to satirize how unmarried women present themselves to attract suitors. The accompanying text presents a first-person narrative from a woman complaining about daily life: seeing couples, hearing about friends' engagements, and her own domestic disappointments. The satire targets "old maids" (unmarried women), portraying them as desperate, envious, and bitter about their unmarried status. The bottom half features liquor advertisements and notices. This typical early-20th-century content reflects period attitudes dismissing single women's perspectives as comic subjects worthy of ridicule.