The Wasp — 1895 — page 635: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is **primarily advertising**, not satire or political commentary. The top illustration titled "The Fallen Fellow" depicts a man displaying a bicycle to two fashionably dressed women, likely satirizing courtship rituals or social pretension around the new bicycle craze of the 1880s-90s. Below this are commercial advertisements for: - The Cyclery (established 1886), a San Francisco cycling business - Various consumer products: tailoring, champagne, soap, brewing, restaurant services, and hotels The "Fallen Fellow" cartoon appears to joke about using bicycle sales or ownership as social currency with women—suggesting the bicycle as both a modern marvel and a tool for romantic impression-making during this era of rapid technological change.