The Wasp — 1894 — page 255: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes the Midwinter Fair (visible in the background cityscape with its distinctive tower). The caption quotes Mrs. Miranda Wayback comparing fair attendees to beauty pageant contestants: "D'ye like the way them Midwinter Fair gum girls is med up, Josiah? I declare I don't think it is quite so nice as the way they hed up at the Mendocino, but I'll bet anyone they hed up anyways." The sketch mocks the heavily made-up appearance of young women at the fair, particularly the "gum girls" (fair workers/promoters). The gentleman's skeptical expression and the woman's earnest comparison suggest satire of both excessive cosmetics and naive boosterism about local attractions. The sign reading "ONLY MORAL SHOW ON THE GROUNDS INSIDE" adds ironic commentary on the fair's pretensions to respectability.