The Wasp — 1895 — page 486: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This June 22nd cartoon from *The Wasp* depicts two figures at Santa Cruz Beach after a 1900 water carnival. The illustration is titled "A Dissipated Creature," suggesting social commentary on moral decay or excessive behavior. The two figures—a woman in fashionable dress with a large hat and a person in athletic/bathing attire—appear to represent contrasting social types or attitudes toward leisure and propriety. The "dissipated" reference likely critiques either excessive indulgence in vacation pleasures or changing social norms around public beach culture and women's increasingly visible participation in recreation. The epigraph quotes "Even as the devil serves the would find existence a dull never have known," suggesting moral disapproval of the scene's implications.