The Wasp — 1894 — page 397: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

**Top cartoon ("She Didn't Count on the Echo"):** Depicts a confrontation involving Erasmus Brashington Washington, described as having "the largest watermelon patch in the State." The satire mocks African American nobility claims—a woman (Miss Pinky Johnson) apparently called out Washington's pretensions, and he responded by insulting her soprano voice. The "echo" joke suggests his insult rebounded publicly. This reflects 19th-century racial stereotypes about Black social pretension and watermelons. **Lower section ("The Wrong Hand"):** A one-act medical drama featuring Dr. Watson Moles treating Penn Squibb for a cholera-related injury. The humor centers on incompetent doctoring—Moles operates on the wrong hand, then laughs it off. This satirizes medical malpractice and incompetence in period healthcare. Both pieces employ exaggerated dialect and caricature typical of era satire.