The Wasp — 1891 — page 54: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* is a full-page advertisement for Wood's Penetrating Plaster, a patent medicine product. It's not a political cartoon or satirical content. The ad uses visual metaphors—a snake-like design element—and marketing claims to promote the plaster as a treatment for various ailments (lame back, rheumatism, kidney pains, and general pain relief). It emphasizes the product "penetrates the skin" and claims superiority over competing plasters by addressing the problem that ordinary plasters' pores become "clogged." The ornate central seal and multiple testimonial-style claims are typical of patent medicine advertising from this era, when such publications often relied on such advertising revenue.