The Wasp — 1895 — page 1095: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon mocks the "bicycle craze" of the 1890s. A woman rider bends dramatically over her bicycle, while three well-dressed men in top hats observe. The caption quotes "Mrs. Weill Wonder" commenting on bloomers (practical split skirts worn by female cyclists) being "everywhere," even at the conservatory. Mr. Jocko responds that "flowering plants are bloomers now." The joke operates on multiple levels: the exaggerated posture of the female cyclist, the social disruption caused by women adopting practical athletic clothing, and wordplay on "bloomers" (the garment) versus blooming flowers. The cartoon satirizes both the bicycle craze itself and conservative anxiety about women's changing fashion and public mobility during this period.