The Wasp — 1890 — page 199: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising** with one significant cartoon titled "THE DIFFERENCE." The cartoon depicts two well-dressed men in conversation. The dialogue suggests one man (Mr. Fast) wrote a letter to the other (Mr. Henpeck) about his wife, complaining she never opens his mail. Mr. Henpeck responds that his wife "generally not" opens letters—but calls him "stupid" for criticizing her directly on the envelope. The satire targets **marital power dynamics**, specifically mocking men who lack authority in their own households. "Henpeck" was period slang for a husband dominated by his wife. The joke's point: even when wives ignore mail, husbands lack standing to object—a commentary on wives' assertiveness or marital role confusion that Wasp's audience apparently found amusing (or troubling enough to ridicule). The rest of the page consists of patent medicines, furniture, and real estate advertisements typical of 1880s-90s magazines.