The Wasp — 1895 — page 868: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This 1895 *Wasp* cartoon satirizes romantic or social pretensions through the caption's dialogue. A woman (Miss Norhill) sits on a man's lap, and he (Mr. Pottero) questions whose "time" this is—implying he's paying for her company or that she's conducting an affair. The cartoon's title "A Laplander, Evidently" is obscure; it may reference the Sámi people as exoticized "others" in 19th-century Western imagination, though the specific satirical meaning is unclear. The joke likely involves social hypocrisy or class commentary about leisure, courtship norms, or commercial relationships—typical *Wasp* targets. The illustration's composition emphasizes the intimate physical positioning as the source of scandal or humor.