The Wasp — 1889 — page 404: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains multiple short satirical pieces and jokes typical of 19th-century American humor magazines: **"An Oil Prince"** depicts a woman (Miss Brindle) meeting a man claiming to represent the Great Standard Oil Company in her country, satirizing oil industry expansion and dubious business representatives. **"The Modest Doctors"** jokes about a physician who found his colleague's house by following a lost boy—mocking doctors' poor reputations or lack of prominence. Other pieces mock government inefficiency ("Found at Last"), absurd logic ("That's Why"), French historical ignorance, and courtship customs. The "Making Up" cartoon shows facial transformations, likely commenting on cosmetics or deceptive appearances. The humor is broad, punchy, and reflects Victorian-era social anxieties about commerce, medicine, and propriety rather than specific political figures.