The Wasp — 1890 — page 235: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is **primarily advertising** with two cartoon sections: **"Jokelettes"** shows five small figures labeled as types who don't believe in toll-gates—depicting a satirical social commentary on different character types evading tolls (an excise tax issue). **"The King's Touch"** cartoon (right side) illustrates an old English superstition about monarchs curing diseases through touch. The accompanying text explains this historical belief and connects it to contemporary patent medicines—suggesting that modern "cure-all" remedies are as superstitious and fraudulent as medieval royal healing claims. This is social satire mocking both quack medicine vendors and gullible consumers of the era. The bulk of the page consists of advertisements for opticians, furniture companies, photographs, land agents, and patent medicines—typical of 1880s-90s American satirical magazines, which relied heavily on advertising revenue.