The Wasp — 1888 — page 459: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains satirical short stories and advertisements rather than political cartoons. The visible satirical pieces include: **"An Intelligent African"** - A dialogue mocking an African American man named Uncle Mose, portraying him using racist dialect and stereotypes common to period minstrelsy humor. The piece ridicules his supposed ignorance about farm economics. **"The Model Housewife"** - A poem satirizing an overly dutiful wife who exhausts herself with housework while her husband remains indifferent, ultimately leading to her death. Other pieces mock various social situations with period-typical satire. The page is primarily filled with advertisements for books, pianos, organs, and patent medicines, reflecting typical late-19th/early-20th-century magazine content. The racist content reflects the deeply prejudiced satirical norms of the era.