The Wasp — 1896 — page 47: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts two well-dressed men on roller skates, titled "Fooling Them." The accompanying text explains the joke: one man asks another about maintaining "roots" and "braces" to stay upright on skates in the year to come, since his companion appears unsteady. The master responds that boots won't help—they'll fall regardless. The satire references a woman who recovered from a five-year illness through an attempted suicide, and a beggar who solicited shoe donations by claiming to have worn-out footwear. The cartoon mocks gullibility and deception in contemporary society—how people are fooled by false claims and appearances, much like the unstable skaters pretending competence they lack.