The Wasp — 1891 — page 347: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon depicts a domestic scene where a woman presents her husband with what appears to be a baby or small child, captioned "A SURPRISE INDEED." The husband's shocked expression suggests unexpected news about paternity or an unplanned pregnancy. The accompanying dialogue—"Mrs. O'Rourke—And is this the present ye brought me, Pat? Now it looks and all the same, it do look more like a button-hook than er umbrella. Nice ye mind, Pat; ver Bridget will after 'bein' er foine teddy, yit"—uses Irish dialect stereotyping common to period satire. The joke appears to mock working-class Irish immigrants' domestic life and fertility, utilizing ethnic caricature typical of late 19th/early 20th-century American humor magazines.