The Wasp — 1891 — page 105: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily a **directory of hotels and businesses** rather than satirical content. The left columns list San Francisco and California hotels with brief descriptions and proprietor names. The right side contains **advertisements**, including prominent ones for Vinegar Bitters (a patent medicine claiming to cure indigestion), Tarrant's Extract, and treatments for consumption and "sexual power." There is **one brief comedic exchange** at the top labeled "BOSTON STYLE" featuring characters named Arabella and Bertha discussing Cupid's darts and "bean-shooters" — a mild, wordplay-based joke about Boston courtship customs. The page's main purpose is commercial rather than satirical. Any humor derives from the absurd health claims made in period patent medicine advertisements rather than political commentary.