The Wasp — 1888 — page 245: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising**, not satirical content. It contains classified and display ads for San Diego and Sacramento businesses (real estate, hotels, banks, manufacturers), along with a humorous anecdote titled "TWO MIDDIES" in the center column. The brief story depicts two naval officers at a picnic who attempt to purchase drinks with only three cents total. Through negotiation and shameless audacity, they convince a barkeeper to provide ale by claiming they're government agents who can requisition supplies. The humor relies on the officers' brass and deception rather than political satire—it's a lighthearted jab at naval personnel's resourcefulness and the era's casual attitudes toward minor fraud or authority-abuse. The page otherwise serves commercial purposes for the magazine.