The Wasp — 1895 — page 288: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is primarily a **title/contents page** for The Wasp, "the oldest colored cartoon paper in the United States" (established 1876). The masthead features decorative illustrations including what appears to be a wasp and natural scenery. The page contains **editorial commentary** on contemporary issues rather than political cartoons. Topics include: astronomers/flying-machine inventors and Mars colonization; income taxation and millionaires; Kate Field's reporting on men's equality; Masonic Lodge claims; fish as brain food; conversationalism; balloon sleeves as fashion; and Ministers Monohan and Thurston. The tone is satirical and gossipy, typical of late-19th-century American periodicals mixing social commentary with humor. No specific identifiable figures appear in illustrations on this page.