The Wasp — 1890 — page 381: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical comic depicts a chaotic Sunday school picnic centered on a mysteriously indestructible sandwich. The six-panel narrative shows increasingly absurd attempts to destroy or consume it: a woman swings it like a mallet, a man's leg flies up from impact, children scatter, rocks fail to break it, a train runs over it, and finally it survives being sat upon. The satire appears to mock either poor-quality picnic food or perhaps something deemed morally objectionable (the title suggests something resistant to harm or criticism). The "suppressed chapter" subtitle suggests this is commentary on censored or overlooked social issues at religious gatherings. The crude, resilient sandwich likely represents something society wishes would disappear but stubbornly persists.