The Wasp — 1888 — page 54: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains three distinct sections: a short story titled "The Weather Prophet at Fault," a poem called "At the Lemonade Booth," and what appears to be a serialized narrative about Oakland social life. The content is primarily literary rather than visual satire. "The Weather Prophet" appears to mock someone who failed to accurately predict California weather. The piece references local Oakland figures and institutions—Judge E. M. Gibson, Sheriff E. Hale, and the "Girls' High School"—suggesting this was satirizing real people and situations familiar to San Francisco Bay Area readers. The tone throughout is gossipy and comedic, targeting pretension and foolish behavior among local society figures, which was typical of *The Wasp*'s satirical approach to regional personalities and events.