The Wasp — 1893 — page 403: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts two men in what appears to be a street or alley setting, with one man offering something to the other. The caption reads "A BREATH SAVER" with the subtitle "Say, Mike—/Mike—Say it yourself, jevvile yet got ver tung open." The joke appears to be a crude ethnic humor piece, likely targeting Irish or working-class immigrants based on the dialect spelling ("jevvile" for "juvenile"). The "breath saver" likely refers to dental hygiene or mouthwash products—common products advertised in early 20th-century publications. The humor seems to play on the implied poor dental hygiene or breath problems of the depicted figures, playing into ethnic stereotypes of the era. This represents the type of casual, offensive stereotypical humor that was typical in satirical magazines of this period.