The Wasp — 1878 — page 464: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains a "Answers to Correspondents" advice column rather than political cartoons. The small illustration shows a woman at a desk receiving correspondence. The column answers reader questions on various topics: whether eating cheese makes one mouse-like, the amount of chewing gum consumed by American schoolchildren (8,000,000 pupils), the location of vitality, proper napkin etiquette, Michael Reese's role in a ship's company, ocean travel experiences, Scottish food (haggis), and English language study advice. The final section, "Two Smart Young Men," describes a humorous anecdote about two young men on a train who made jokes about a dog, creating embarrassment. This appears to be light satirical content mixing genuine advice with absurdist humor typical of Wasp's style—mocking both correspondent questions and societal pretensions.