The Wasp — 1889 — page 308: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and commercial content** rather than political satire. The dominant features include: - **"Silks! Silks!"** — a large spring fashion advertisement for silk fabrics - **"O'Coyne & Co."** — a San Francisco merchant advertisement - **Various patent medicines and remedies** — including treatments for alcoholism, deafness, and other ailments - **Business advertisements** — lawn mowers, printing services, aluminum products The only apparent cartoon is a small illustration at top-left showing two men in period dress discussing Sarsaparilla, a medicinal tonic. This represents typical 19th-century patent medicine marketing. The page reflects *The Wasp*'s mixed business model: satirical journalism subsidized by advertisements. The content reveals what San Franciscans bought and valued in 1889: fashionable textiles, industrial innovations, and dubious medical treatments.