The Wasp — 1890 — page 213: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains social satire and humor rather than political cartooning. The top cartoon shows a couple on a bench; the caption jokes about helping "over the fence," a double entendre implying improper behavior. The "Society" section satirizes wealthy San Francisco society through gossip and travel notices about prominent families vacationing or returning from resorts like Del Monte and San Rafael. Other comedic bits target everyday absurdities: a woman ashamed of wearing last season's clothes; comments on geysers and constipation in Yellowstone; and a professor/pupil exchange about gravitational poles. The humor relies on Victorian-era social conventions, class anxieties about fashion and propriety, and gentle mockery of the leisure activities of San Francisco's elite. The magazine's primary function here appears to be chronicling and gently ridiculing local high society.