The Wasp — 1895 — page 492: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The main left-side cartoon shows a caricatured cyclist with exaggerated facial features, labeled as depicting someone named Louis Si—se (name cut off). The accompanying verse mocks this figure as "a daisy little boss" who rides a bicycle and brags about social standing despite being unremarkable. The page also features "Mary's Little Hen," a humorous children's-style poem about a feminine hen that stops laying eggs, with satirical commentary on prohibitionists and old-fashioned attitudes. Additional content includes social humor about Napoleon and General Bonaparte, a section titled "He Knew" about market versus intrinsic value, and period advertisements. The overall tone is lighthearted social satire targeting contemporary figures and attitudes, with particular mockery directed at the cyclist figure and various social pretensions of the era.