The Wasp — 1894 — page 414: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising** for various San Francisco businesses (banks, insurance companies, food products, etc.). The only significant illustration is titled **"A Serenade,"** showing a woman at a window above a man serenading her with a guitar. The accompanying poem is humorous social commentary about courtship, mocking the idealized "serenade" scenario. The verses suggest the man's vocal abilities are poor ("modest flame that floats / And swells a note inflated tail"), and he's attempting an absurd romantic gesture that would actually be annoying to neighbors. The satire gently ridicules both romantic pretension and the reality of urban courtship—the "serenade" is presented as foolish rather than charming, reflecting 19th-century skepticism toward sentimental romance conventions.