The Wasp — 1888 — page 245: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising**, featuring San Diego and Sacramento business listings along with hotel and boarding house promotions. The substantial illustrated advertisement shows a large ornamental stove or heating device labeled "14,799 SOLD IN 1886," promoting Anderson & Tallon's product. The only editorial content is a column titled "A Hotel Man's Bluff," a humorous anecdote about a hotel proprietor who uses psychological tricks during poker games—claiming he can read minds and employing staged distractions (fake drunk friends, orchestrated cheating accusations) to win money from guests. The satire targets deceptive business practices of the era. The page also includes "L.A. Berteling, Scientific Optician" advertising spectacles, and various product endorsements typical of 1880s magazine formatting.