The Wasp — 1890 — page 229: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains social gossip, society announcements, and an advertisement for "Mrs. Graham's Cucumber and Elder Flower Cream" beauty product. The main illustration, captioned "OUR AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHERS' CONTEST: 'BUTTON! BUTTON! WHO HAS THE BUTTON?'" (credited to C. Burk, San Jose, Cal.), shows children in a casual game. The joke appears to reference the nursery rhyme/children's game where one child hides a button while others guess its location. The page is primarily a society column listing returns from vacations, upcoming weddings, and social activities among San Francisco's elite—typical magazine content of the era (appears to be early 1900s based on styling). The satirical "Wasp" magazine used such society reporting to mock the leisure activities and pretensions of the wealthy class.