The Wasp — 1895 — page 1094: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is predominantly **advertising and directory content** for San Francisco businesses (hotels, restaurants, printers, bicycle manufacturers). The only cartoon present is titled **"An Unkind Answer,"** showing a woman and man in profile. The caption reads: "MABEL—Marie, what do you think? Your brother nobly proposed to me during the sermon last Sunday! MARIE (astonished)—Oh you mustn't mind that. He often talks in his sleep." This is a **domestic humor joke** mocking both the brother's proposal (made during church, apparently inattentively) and the implication he sleepwalks or speaks unconsciously. The satire targets careless male suitors and absent-minded behavior rather than political content. The joke relies on period conventions about proper courtship etiquette.