The Wasp — 1888 — page 330: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is primarily an **advertising page** from *The Wasp* (April 28, 1888), not a political cartoon. The page features the magazine's title and masthead at top, followed by numerous San Francisco business advertisements arranged in a grid layout. The ads cover diverse services: hat shops, pianos, whiskey, dental work, shoes, investment banking, patent water closets, and patent medicines. Notable is **Wilson's Vaporizing Inhaler** advertisement, featuring a bearded man's face and promoting treatment for catarrh, asthma, and bronchitis—typical of 19th-century patent medicine claims. The **Dr. Hepley's Tamarack** advertisement at bottom-right promises stomach relief "sold by all dealers." This reflects 1880s San Francisco commercial culture rather than political satire. The page documents period advertising practices and remedies now recognized as ineffective or dubious.