The Wasp — 1891 — page 453: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The illustration depicts three men in 19th-century dress seated together, appearing to share a meal or drink. The dialogue identifies them as characters discussing food quality: - **Marbey** (presumably the speaker) complains his goat tastes poorly - **Mother O'Sullivan** is mentioned as the goat's owner - **O'Sullivan** responds defensively about the animal's diet The satire targets working-class or immigrant food culture, likely Irish (suggested by "O'Sullivan"). The joke ridicules both the quality of cheap food available to poor people and their attempts to justify it. This reflects period class attitudes—mocking lower-income communities' dietary circumstances as inherently inferior or laughable rather than examining economic conditions creating such limitations.