The Wasp — 1890 — page 261: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains social satire rather than political cartoons. The top cartoon depicts two men—one labeled "Smith" and one "Jones"—discussing marriage and settling down, with Jones dismissing the idea. The joke mocks bachelor resistance to matrimony. The main article critiques wealthy society women who struggle maintaining appearances despite financial constraints. It satirizes the "fashionable" upper class living beyond their means, unable to afford servants or proper entertainment, yet desperate to preserve social status through displays of wealth. The bottom cartoon shows "Aunt Martha" discovering someone drinking heavily, likely commenting on hidden vices within respectable society. Overall, *The Wasp* targets class pretension and the gap between wealthy appearances and actual financial instability in turn-of-the-century America.