The Wasp — 1889 — page 100: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains multiple short humor pieces and dialogues rather than political cartoons. The content includes: **"The Little Flea"** — A poem celebrating fleas' boldness and freedom, likely satirizing something through this unusual praise. **"The Wasp"** — A central illustration showing a domestic scene, referenced by several dialogue pieces below it about social situations. **Social Satire Pieces:** Short dialogues mock various Victorian-era social types: a pompous bar-keeper disputing an honest claim, a teacher and student debating education, theater gossip, landlord-tenant disputes, and marital disagreements about smoking and promises. The humor targets everyday hypocrisy—people contradicting themselves about morality, marriage, and social obligations. Without identifying specific individuals or events, the satire appears to ridicule general middle-class pretension and domestic tensions typical of late 19th-century American society.