The Wasp — 1889 — page 390: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and entertainment listings** for San Francisco venues (theaters, operas, banks). However, it includes one cartoon titled "She Was Not To Be Fooled," depicting a young woman in a dress labeled "Fooled" at her feet. The accompanying verses suggest satire about **courtship deception**: a man attempts romantic manipulation, but the woman sees through his ruse. The caption "Her dresses were short but her head was long / If he thought she could be fooled / By any fraudulent 'Napa gold'" implies she's too intelligent to be deceived by false claims or cheap trinkets. This reflects late-19th-century social commentary on gender relations and consumer fraud, mocking both dishonest suitors and dubious products marketed to women.