The Wasp — 1894 — page 43: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising** for San Francisco businesses (furniture, breweries, machinery works, etc.), with satirical cartoon sections interspersed. The two cartoons shown are titled "The Hunt for Titles" and "It Made Shakey Sick." They appear to mock social pretension and class aspiration—specifically, wealthy Californians seeking British aristocratic titles and legitimacy. The text references "First California Heiress" and "Second California Heiress" with sarcastic commentary about English nobility and inheritance. The second cartoon depicts someone getting sick, apparently from witnessing or hearing about these social climbers' attempts to acquire titles. The satire targets nouveau-riche San Francisco society's perceived desperate pursuit of European aristocratic status and legitimacy despite their American origins.