The Wasp — 1891 — page 199: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and business listings** for San Francisco firms (Wells Fargo & Company, First National Bank, Williams Diamond & Co., etc.), interspersed with brief humorous anecdotes and product advertisements. The illustrated content includes: 1. **"A Horse Who Can Talk"** — a satirical piece about a horse supposedly gifted with speech, mocking pseudoscientific claims of animal intelligence popular in the era. 2. **Several short comedic dialogues** ("Street-Car Courtesy," "A Wasted Lesson," "Recognized at Last," "A Misconception," "His Creed") — gentle social humor about everyday situations: etiquette violations, marital misunderstandings, and hypocrisy. The cartoons appear to mock conventional manners and social pretension rather than target specific political figures or events. The page functions primarily as a commercial directory with light entertainment.