The Wasp — 1894 — page 127: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising** for San Francisco businesses (breweries, machinery, bicycles, etc.), with two satirical cartoon strips. The top cartoon titled "Wagner Had No Charms" depicts a social scene where a man in formal dress appears to have no romantic success—the title references composer Wagner, sarcastically suggesting even his music couldn't help this fellow's appeal. The bottom cartoon shows an "Enthusiastic Reporter" interviewing "Mrs. La Mode" (a society lady) about condemning cigarette smoking. The joke turns when she admits she smokes herself, exposing hypocrisy among high society women who publicly condemn vices while privately engaging in them—a common satirical target of the era. Both cartoons mock pretension and social hypocrisy among San Francisco's upper classes.