The Wasp — 1894 — page 21: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and business directory** for San Francisco, with minimal satirical content. The small narrative text discusses a spiritualist medium's séance and mentions the "Hobbledehoy Wonder"—a figure the text suggests is a fraudulent attraction that deceives the public. The two illustrated vignettes appear to depict scenes from this narrative: one showing what seems to be a circus or performance setting, another showing a woman in period dress. The satire targets **spiritualist fraud and carnival deception**, particularly criticizing fake attractions marketed to gullible audiences. The "Hobbledehoy Wonder" appears to represent con artists exploiting public credulity through false spectacles—a common theme in Gilded Age satirical publications attacking humbug and charlatanism.