The Wasp — 1890 — page 74: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains several short satirical pieces rather than a single cartoon. The main illustration shows a gentleman in formal dress colliding with a street beggar—likely satirizing San Diego society contrasts or class interactions. The "Moses Silverstone" section mocks a conservative merchant's complaint about a clerk's impertinent letter regarding fabric quality. The humor lies in the merchant's pompous indignation. "Joaquin Miller's Query" satirizes the poet's encounter with a widow, Mrs. Haraden of Alameda, poking fun at romantic misunderstandings. "Anxious for a Telegram" ridicules a nervous clothing merchant, Isidor Stern, obsessing over a delayed telegraph message about a store fire. The pieces target pretension, anxiety, and class-based social friction characteristic of 1880s San Diego society.