The Wasp — 1894 — page 407: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The central cartoon depicts a **country editor** confronting a **farmer**, with the caption "THE TRUE REASON." The editor asks why the farmer appears unhappy "this year" compared to last year, offering subscription as the solution. The farmer responds: "Me purse is froze." This is satire on rural economic hardship. The joke turns on the double meaning—the farmer's *purse* (money/finances) is "froze" (frozen/depleted), not literally frozen. It's mocking the editor's obliviousness: the farmer cannot afford a newspaper subscription because he's experiencing financial distress, yet the editor naively attributes his unhappiness to lacking the publication itself. The cartoon critiques disconnect between urban media establishments and struggling agricultural communities.