The Wasp — 1896 — page 77: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains "Old Maid's Diary," a gossip column by Tabitha Twiggs mocking San Francisco society. The featured cartoon shows a woman instructing a deacon on proper kissing technique—satirizing clergy hypocrisy around moral conduct. The text attacks local figures including Dr. Brown (pursuing affairs while preaching virtue), Deacon Jawbones (a sanctimonious church pillar), and discusses a scandal involving a prominent businessman sued for breach of promise. The column ridicules San Francisco's elite for their contradictions: publicly championing morality while privately engaging in affairs, fraud, and unethical behavior. The deacon cartoon exemplifies this central joke—religious authorities lecturing others on propriety while themselves compromising their principles.