The Wasp — 1893 — page 105: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising with one narrative feature**. The left column contains "Bank President and Crook," a fictional dialogue between a convict and his cellmate in Auburn Prison. The convict recounts infiltrating a wealthy banker's home under false pretenses, discovering the banker's criminal schemes, and ultimately blackmailing him for $30,000 using evidence of the banker's illicit activities. The satire targets **wealthy financial elites**, suggesting bankers engaged in fraud and corruption were themselves criminals who could be outmaneuvered by ordinary people. The humor relies on ironic role-reversal: the imprisoned man becomes the blackmailer of the "respectable" banker. The remainder consists of advertisements for Woodbury's Facial Soap and rental pianos—standard period marketing.