The Wasp — 1895 — page 404: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and directory listings** for San Francisco businesses (hotels, restaurants, saloons, printing services). The only cartoon appears mid-page under "AT THE COTILLION," showing a woman in a white dress surrounded by three men in formal attire, with the caption "ADDIE HOLMES (in an undertone)—'I'll be in the receiving line.'" and a response from "MRS. YOUNGWIFE—'Yes! Well, that's a good place for you—a blooming idiot, you know.'" The joke appears to be **social satire about elite society events**: mocking a woman's (Addie Holmes's) pretensions about attending a formal cotillion reception line, with another woman dismissively calling her an "idiot" for such pretensions. The humor relies on recognizing these likely were real San Francisco society figures of the era.