The Wasp — 1895 — page 743: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon mocks the popularity of tandem bicycles among courting couples. The caption describes "Jones and His Fiancee" going on a coasting trip in Golden Gate Park Hills, while their disapproving friends and relatives bid them farewell—treating the bicycle outing as though it were a farewell to Earth. The satire targets social anxieties about bicycles as vehicles for unsupervised romantic encounters. The exaggerated mourning scene suggests contemporary disapproval of young couples cycling together unchaperoned, which was considered scandalous behavior. The joke reflects late-Victorian/Edwardian concerns about bicycles enabling independence—particularly for women—and facilitating courtship beyond parental supervision. The page is otherwise filled with period advertisements for tailors, wines, soaps, and hotels.