The Wasp — 1891 — page 87: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and content filler** rather than political satire. The main illustration shows two men at a dining table with a waiter—accompanying a humorous exchange about ordering "a bottle of '76 vintage and a spring chicken," with the waiter misunderstanding and bringing actual poultry instead. Below is "A Ferry-Boat Episode," a sentimental poem by Lillian Pusketti about a chance encounter between two passengers on an Oakland ferry, focusing on romantic observation and social propriety. The surrounding content consists entirely of **San Francisco business advertisements**—for liquor dealers, insurance companies, pianos, desks, and shipping merchants. This represents typical late-19th-century magazine padding rather than satirical commentary.