The Wasp — 1894 — page 426: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising** for patent medicines and consumer products typical of late-19th/early-20th century America (Scott's Emulsion, Liebig's Extract, Epps's Cocoa, etc.). The central cartoon, titled **"Force of Habit,"** depicts a humorous domestic scene. A man appears to be gesturing dramatically while speaking to a woman in what seems to be a public space. The accompanying dialogue jokes about habitual behaviors—one character mentions keeping "his nativity before de public" and references "Bloomingdale's," suggesting mockery of someone's obsessive self-promotion or maintaining a public persona. The satire appears to target **social pretension and habitual performativity**—the idea that certain individuals compulsively maintain artificial public images regardless of context. The cartoon critiques this behavior as ridiculous and inescapable.