The Wasp — 1891 — page 469: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and humor columns**, not political cartooning. The central image shows two women in conversation labeled "GOSSIP"—a common Victorian satirical subject mocking female chattiness. The surrounding text presents humorous domestic dialogues on marriage and social conduct, including exchanges about marital arguments and societal expectations. The advertisements occupy most of the page: Scott's Emulsion (cod liver oil), leather belting, furniture liquidation, banking services, and Epps's Cocoa. A "Do You Suffer?" patent medicine ad appears prominently. The humor reflects **late 19th-century gender stereotypes**—particularly mocking women's supposed ignorance (the "illiterate" society men joke) and marital discord. The final joke about Mrs. Stryver leaving society "without skirts" plays on scandalous divorce gossip. This is **social satire**, not political commentary.