The Wasp — 1890 — page 320: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes social etiquette at a White House dinner. The caption shows a woman telling a servant she won't trouble him for supper—just water—appearing considerate. However, the satire lies in the accompanying gossip column, which criticizes such affected politeness as performative and insincere. The text references a dinner where Hon. M.M. Eaton and wife dined with President Harrison, and notes that the table decoration featured white carnations and laurel leaves arranged as "the symbols of justice." The joke appears to target artificial refinement and empty social gestures among Washington's elite—the woman's exaggerated courtesy masks underlying pretentiousness rather than genuine thoughtfulness.