The Wasp — 1891 — page 590: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising with two cartoons**. The top cartoon titled "A Good Reason" depicts two working men discussing why flies avoid a brush—one suggests the brush gets "all the beer," implying drunk workers are unpleasant. It's a crude joke about working-class alcoholism. Below, "Thought He'd Struck a Slaughter-House" by Walter C. Quevedo depicts a confused poet attempting to work in a newspaper office. The humor derives from his incompetence: he's rejected, confused about procedures, and mocked by staff. The satire targets impractical intellectuals attempting manual labor in newspapers—suggesting poets don't belong in practical business environments. The remainder consists of San Francisco advertisements for typewriters, tailoring, furniture storage, and other services typical of early 1900s publications.