The Wasp — 1877 — page 14: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* (Jan. 6, 1877) contains two images: **Top cartoon**: "New Year's Calls in the Police Court" depicts a crowded courtroom scene on New Year's Day. The satirical point appears to be that rather than making polite social visits (a traditional New Year's custom for the wealthy), lower-class individuals are appearing before a judge—suggesting they're arrested or in legal trouble, likely for drunkenness or disorderly conduct common on holidays. **Bottom portrait**: A formal engraving of Governor F.L. Grover of Oregon, presented without apparent satirical commentary on this particular page. The satire contrasts genteel New Year's traditions with working-class legal consequences, a common theme in Victorian-era satirical magazines critiquing social class divisions.