The Wasp — 1887 — page 372: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains a short story titled "A Tough Turkey" rather than a political cartoon. The narrative satirizes San Francisco society through humorous anecdotes about turkey-slaying and other domestic incidents. The story mocks urban pretension: a well-to-do merchant's wife attempts to kill and dress a live turkey for Thanksgiving, resulting in chaotic disaster. Another section ridicules a "merry Oakland auctioneer" who violates liquor ordinances while claiming respectability. The satire targets class hypocrisy and the gap between refined self-presentation and actual behavior among the merchant and professional classes. The final anecdote about a newspaper man buying bourbon while searching for "a demijohn of Bourbon" further emphasizes The Wasp's critique of San Francisco's upper-middle-class pretense and moral inconsistency.