The Wasp — 1894 — page 386: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertisements and medical notices** rather than political satire. The central cartoon depicts two men in conversation—one well-dressed in a suit and hat, the other in shabby clothing. The caption reads "HE COULDN'T DO BOTH AT ONCE," referencing McSpices of the Four Hundred (San Francisco's wealthy elite) who supposedly attends both oyster-shucking and "cooling at the seashore." The joke appears to satirize **wealthy pretension and divided loyalties** among San Francisco's social elite—mocking someone claiming membership in exclusive circles while managing mundane activities. The page is otherwise filled with patent medicines, bathhouses, laundries, and remedies typical of late 19th/early 20th-century advertising, including treatments for venereal diseases and various ailments.