The Wasp — 1887 — page 86: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains three separate prose stories rather than cartoons: 1. **"The Honest Farmer"** - A satirical anecdote about rural land speculation and questionable business dealings involving Uncle George and a farm purchase on the Erie Canal, poking fun at farmer naïveté. 2. **"A Young Butcher's Luck"** - A story about a butcher named Trefts who wins $15,000 in the Louisiana State Lottery, featuring satirical commentary on lottery gambling and get-rich-quick schemes. 3. **"The Old Man's Story"** - A romantic/domestic narrative poem about marriage and life regrets. The content satirizes common American themes of the era: agricultural fraud, lottery gambling mania, and romantic disillusionment. Without visible illustrations, the satire operates purely through narrative and tone rather than visual caricature.