The Wasp — 1895 — page 1038: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and directory listings** for San Francisco businesses (hotels, restaurants, printers, lawyers). The single cartoon depicts a **fashionably dressed woman** in an elegant fitted dress, holding a serving tray. The caption reads "**Better Than Bloomers**," with accompanying text about a restaurant's "bloomer waitresses" being replaced by young ladies in proper palace grill-room attire. The satire mocks **bloomerism**—the 1890s-early 1900s women's fashion reform movement advocating for practical pants-like garments. The cartoon suggests that traditional feminine dress (the fitted gown shown) is superior to the "bloomer" style, which reformers promoted for comfort and functionality. The restaurant advertisement frames this as a commercial advantage, appealing to patrons' preference for conventional femininity over progressive fashion choices.