The Wasp — 1894 — page 481: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains political commentary and a cartoon titled "A Mere Matter of Taste." The main cartoon depicts a scene where a young woman is being kissed under the chin by an older man, while other figures observe. The caption presents a dialogue: a gentleman suggests kissing "her under her old mother's nose," and another responds he'd "rather kiss her under her own nose." The satire appears to target issues of propriety and courtship customs of the era. The joke relies on the tension between public decorum and private desire—the humor emerging from the suggestion of romantic transgression occurring literally under a chaperone's supervision. The accompanying text discusses various political matters including Andrew Carnegie's political activities and Congressional investigations into armor-plate fraud, establishing the magazine's broader satirical focus on American political and social hypocrisy.